


The Red Scare

by charaKTA



Category: Darkstalkers (Video Games), Deadpool - All Media Types, Devil May Cry, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel vs. Capcom (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Crossover, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Life, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-02
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-01-14 07:16:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 36
Words: 172,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1257634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charaKTA/pseuds/charaKTA
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time has passed since the Merge of the two worlds and the defeat of Galactus. Everyone either was already used to the new way of life or still getting accustomed to it. One of those still getting the hang of it was the demon hunter Dante, who must deal with sharing a business with his teammates; the loudmouth and obnoxious mercenary Deadpool and a young, overly professional devil huntress called Bulleta.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Three Red Menaces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante and Deadpool cross paths (and guns) with a young demon huntress who calls herself Bulleta. She proves herself to be a formidable opponent... and perhaps even a potential recruit to the Devil May Cry?

* * *

Somewhere in a well lit and populated city, there lies a irregular, shaggy building that stands out from the rest. The bright neon sign that read _'Devil May Cry'_ was certainly eye catching, though not many even bothered to go into the building unless they were searching for a bathroom. 

Most say this shop was merely for odd jobs and that only, but there was so much more to than that.

Inside the Devil May Cry, a shirtless young man reclined back on his creaking chair. His silver hair that stopped at the nape of his neck swayed as he bobbed his head to the heavy metal playing on the small radio placed on his desk. His eye lids opened up, revealing deep ice crystal like orbs that could penetrate anything.

This was Dante Sparda, an infamous demon hunter who made a name for himself to any unlucky devil with a price on their head.

He let out a grunt of annoyance as the radio began malfunctioning, ruining his state of relaxation.

"Stupid thing never works..." He muttered and aimed one of his personally modified handguns at it. A single bullet shot through the radio and it collapsed into a thousand pieces, spilling all over the wooden floor below.

A small knife was thrown at the half demon's direction and he merely swayed his head to the side, causing it to lodge into the seat instead.

"Way to cut into the conversation, Wade." Dante said with an eye roll.

"Oh I'm sorry did I break your concentration?" Another voice answered from the other side of the office. 

Laid back on the torn up leather couch was Wade Wilson, the mercenary known as Deadpool. A self-proclaimed 'Merc with the Mouth.' He was dressed in his usual uniform consisting of a full red and black light kevlar body suit and mask.

"The ladies tend to call me that too, if you know what I'm saying." He whispered towards you, the reader, with a chuckle. "Just kidding, only my fiancee says that, I'm in a committed relationship! Stay loyal everyone!"

Dante didn't even bother asking who the mercenary was talking to, having just chalked it up as him being weird. 

Deadpool sat up from the couch, twirling another knife in his hands. "So did we get any calls while I was napping and totally not having a wet dream that consisted of ball gags, brownie mix and clown porn?" He asked curiously.

The half demon raised a single silver brow, choosing to ignore the last part of his question. "Like usual, we got nothing."

Everyone half expected these two to come together and work side by side, considering their questionable teamwork during the invasion of Galactus. The two were almost identical, what with all the red, the guns, the swords, the violence and of course, the annoying mouths that can cause more damage to your ears than any of their weaponry could possibly achieve.

Deadpool let out an exaggerated groan and got up from his seat. He walked over to Dante, the destroyed radio catching his eye first. "You do know it probably needed batteries? Like there is seriously no god damn reason for you to just fucking give it a money shot to the speaker."

"Dude, we don't even have money for _that_." The devil hunter reminded with a frown. His debt was still as high as ever, it seemed like he could never pay Trish, Lady, Patty, or anyone back. (Not like he cared anyway.)

The mercenary stood up and grabbed the old brush and pan laid back against the wall. "We're more broke than your move set in Marvel vs. Capcom 3! Or fucking, a disabled Vietnamese man riding a fucking monster truck, now _that's_ broken!" He rambled and went over to clean the shattered radio. "And I'm the only one doing anything about it because this sack of ball sacks is too lazy to clean up here!" He complained aloud and dropped all the pieces on Dante's desk.

The devil hunter merely stared at the mess and rolled his ice blue eyes. He reached over to his half melted strawberry sundae and resumed enjoying his dessert.

"STOP MOCKING ME! YOU KNOW I'M ON A DIET!" Deadpool shouted and threw the brush and pan right at his co-worker.

Dante slapped away the thrown items and now had an annoyed look upon his face. "You're lucky you didn't knock away my sunda--" Before he could even finish his sentence, the mercenary slapped the dessert off his hands.

"Oh, did you mean that sundae?" 

"That's it."

A second passed and suddenly the two were now holding up guns to each other's faces. The two kept shouting obscenities back and forth until the black phone began to ring. The two were immediately knocked out of their state of violence and stared at the phone.

"That must be the mayor of _Townsville_!" Deadpool squealed and went over to grab the phone, but his co-worker stepped over the desk and kicked him away.

Dante's fist slammed the table and the phone bounced up, he caught the receiver and held it up to his ear. "'Devil May Cry,' what's up?" A red hot smirk flew across his lips as he heard the password uttered over the phone. "Gimme the place and you got yourself a job." He waited a beat, ignoring his co-worker that was holding a chair over his head.

"Deal. We'll take care of it." He dropped the phone and grabbed his handguns, Ebony and Ivory, then holstered them behind him. "Save it for the demons, Wade." He said to his friend as he walked over to the coat rack.

"Aw..." Deadpool deflated, but shot up with a glimmer in his eyes. "Time for murder~!" He skipped over to the couch and began gearing up. "Remember kids, never say 'no' when given the chance to murder someone! Especially if it's demons, because statistically demons are kind of assholes."

As his co-worker readied up, Dante grabbed his stylish red coat and swung it over himself. He grabbed his menacing demonic broadsword, Rebellion, and held it over his shoulder. "Ready?"

"I was born ready, motherfucker. But I was also born crying and screaming since I was brought into this horrible world!" The merc answered excitedly as he pulled back the hammer on one of his M1911 handguns.

Dante let out a small chuckle and stood in front of the exit. "This is gonna be one helluva party!" He exclaimed and kicked open the double doors.

  **\---** **  
**

The not so dynamic duo finally arrived at the place their tip told them. It was one of the local bars, but it had completely ransacked and torn apart.

"Aw man, this was one of my favorite places too!" Deadpool complained. "We always got shit faced here and found ourselves either in jail or in a trash compactor! Except that one time where we ended up in a hotel room and there was a dead pirate in the bathtub. Good times."

"Yeah right, 'good times.'" Dante said sarcastically. "Especially when Trish and Lady had to bail us out each time."

The pair entered the bar and it had been completely cleared out of people. Windows were broken, shards of glasses glittered on the floor as they reflected the flickering lamp shades. A few pool tables and the bar table itself was coated in blood; several bullets were scattered across the wooden flooring and the crumbling walls.

"Must've been Happy Hour." Deadpool casually said, noticing the dismembered bodies of people sprawled across the area. "You know, with all these dead bodies this bar reminds me more of my ol' pal Weasel's bar. We should stop by there some time and annoy him!"

"I'm always up for a drink." Dante agreed, still scanning the area. Other than the mutilated bodies of said bar goers, he was quick to notice a few large, goblin-like demons feasting on the sprawled innards of an unfortunate victim. "Demon scum." He said under his breath, which somehow caught the attention of the creatures.

Their red eyes glowed and their jagged, yellow teeth were stained with the blood of their victims.

"Gross. I'm assuming Satan doesn't give out dental insurance for his minions?" Deadpool casually asked the devils. He turned his head to see more of the demons popping up from the woodwork, effectively surrounding the two. "Sorry fellas, but the bar's closed! Please leave in an orderly fashion back to Hell via our bullets and swords please."

None of the demons seemed to have listened to Deadpool and continued their advance towards the two.

The mercenary let out a sigh and brandished his dual katanas. "Welp, I tried. Say, Fabio, what do you say we show these chumps to the door outta here and straight to a 7 feet under dirt nap?"

"Now that's the way I'd rather do it." Dante said with a smirk as his hand gripped on the hilt of Rebellion. "Let's get this party started!"

One demon swung its claws at Dante, who ducked down to dodge the attack and retaliated by slicing Rebellion clean through its gut. The devil hunter hopped up and kicked both of the separated body parts at the others, then exchanged Rebellion for his handguns, shooting more of the demons with precise aim.

"Sticks and stones may break your bones, but swords will cut right through them!" Deadpool laughed as he sliced his katana blades through a demon that attempted to pounce him. He spun and crouched, swinging his blade into another devil's feet and knocked it over.

Dante stomped a demon's head and used it to boost himself up. While in the air, he spun once and shot down another pair of devils, then dropped Rebellion down on the back of a unsuspecting one. He jumped behind the bar and blasted away a few more of the creatures with Ebony and Ivory. Eyeing a jukebox, he smirked and pressed the play button, beginning to cycle through the songs nonchalantly.

***CHHK***

_"--ou know my hips don't lie--"_

***CHHK***

_"--m a blunt getting smoked, and I can't wake u-"_

***CHHK***

_"--O THE WALK. DO THE TAL-"_

***CHHK***

_"--imme the Persian rug where the center looks like Galag--"_

***CHHK***

_"--ou used to call me on my cell phon--"_

***CHHK***

Deadpool sliced another hungry demon in half and brandished his handgun to shoot down the few more than approached him. "Hey! That was my jam!" He shouted towards Dante while he had the chance to reload his handguns.

The whited haired half demon rolled his eyes as another demon attempted to chomp at him. He stopped its attack with a quick parry, sending the devil away from the bar. He turned back and slammed the radio, it began to play halfway into _Devils Never Cry_ by _Coal Chamber._

"Sweet." He smirked, taking a quick moment to bob his head to the guitar of the song. "Let's rock!"

"Oh wow, what are the odds that the radio would play _his_  series' theme?" Deadpool muttered while he snapped a demon's neck with ease. 

Dante front flipped away from the radio and shot down the devils that appeared in his view. He pushed one of his handguns' barrels into the mouth of a demon and splattered its brain and skull across the glossy floor. "Some headache!"

"Love from Canada!" The mercenary exclaimed as he continuously bashed a demon's face in with his fist. "Aw, you look sick! Here..." He then stuffed a grenade down its throat and pulled the pin. "HAVE SOME PINEAPPLES!" He screamed and threw the devil towards another group of its fellows. A large explosion tore apart the demons, sending a shower of blood and guts in different direction.

"Keepin' it stylish!" The demon hunter exclaimed as he used his dual handguns to kill the last of the demons that attacked him. The devils all dropped dead onto the floor resulting in a sadistic smirk on the lips of the demon hunter. He blew away the smoke from the barrels of his handguns and spun them. "Not even a challenge." He remarked and holstered his pistols. "How ya holdin' up, Wade?"

"FALCON KICK~!" Deadpool exclaimed as he roundhouse kicked a demon out of the window. He held out both of his katanas, "I call this one 'The Washing Machine!'" He then spun around repeatedly with his blades sticking straight out, slicing through the last of the devils as they dimwittedly charged at him.

The two were the last ones standing. They surveyed over the chaos they had committed and were more than proud of themselves.

"Well, that was a fun." Dante said, stretching his arms. "Let's grab a couple drinks and some pizza?"

"I'm down with drinks, but we _always_ get pizza!" The mercenary responded with a pout. "How about some tacos?"

The half devil shrugged as he began walking out. "We'll play rock-paper-scissors on the way."

"You're on!"

The two exited the bar, not caring nor noticing that they had left it in an even more wrecked state and covered in the blood and dust left behind by the dead demons. They spotted a frightened portly man trembling near a fire hydrant. Dante and Deadpool glanced at each other for a moment and the latter was the first to approach the man.

"Hey pal! I see you found new ways to use the bathroom. Though I _think_ the pants have to come off first y'know! Then again fire hydrants are used by those fluffy animals and sometimes Wolverine... (but don't tell him I said that, he's _very_ ashamed.)"

The man, obviously more frightened and confused by Deadpool, fell on his bottom and scuttled away from him. He ended up bumping into Dante's leg.

"Watch the coat, man." Dante warned with a glare.

The man scrambled to his feet and apologized. "I-I'm sorry. But those... things just attacked my bar! They scared off everyone and I was so scared... some of my guards tried to fight back but they never came back out!"

"Well, here's the good news, unimportant character! They're all dead! Including your guards!" Deadpool laughed and clapped the man's shoulder, who nearly let out a tiny scream before holding it in.

"No worries, pal. Me and my friend here killed every last one of those demon scum." The devil hunter nodded back to the ruined bar.

The man's lit up and smiled brightly. He sprung up and began shaking his head up and down he shook Dante's hand. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"But it's gonna cost you!" Deadpool suddenly added.

The man's expression looked as if he was baffled, he then yelled at the two red mercs. "Wait just a minute! What do you mean!? Aren't you guys like, super heroes or something? When did the people have to pay super heroes!"

"The fuck you think this is, the _Avengers_?" The merc questioned with an annoyed look underneath his mask. "We're not some goody two shoes lame-o crime fighting shit swizzlers that do charity work for little shits like you, we do what we're best at for that cold hard cash! We're like _Heroes for Hire_! Minus the whole 60's look, wearing tiaras or slippers and doing some stupid ass Kung-Fu."

"Exactly what he said." Dante nodded. "Sorry pal, we got bills too, y'know." He glanced over to his partner in crime with a mild glare. "Especially ones that certain people haven't paid yet."

"Hey! I paid rent like a week ago!" Deadpool retorted with a frown.

"No. You didn't. When I asked about the rent you shot me in the face and went out to go to a concert." The half demon corrected.

The mercenary chuckled and clapped his hand on his friend's shoulder. "That _was_ a pretty cool concert. _Tegan & Sara_ are amazing live. You should've came!"

"You shot me in the face."

"Yeah I did get autographs! You wanna see?"

"E-Excuse me?" The man stuttered out.

"Hey, did anybody ask you to talk?" Deadpool questioned the bar owner. "No, exactly, so keep your mouth shut." 

The man backed away in surprise. "What did I even do!?"

"I don't know, but you're really annoying me by just being a stupid background character!" Deadpool glared at him and poked the man in the chest. "And you look familiar... have I killed you before? Or was it someone that looked like you? I have no idea, I kill a lot of people... people that deserve it, of course..."

"Yo Wade, quit scaring the guy. He already crapped himself." Dante lazily warned, doing nothing physically to stop the mercenary.

Deadpool's hands twitched and he suddenly pulled his handgun out on Dante. The demon hunter smirked and trained one of his handguns back at the mercenary in return.

The man frantically looked back and forth at the two, sensing a shoot out between the two obviously psychopathic men. He sprinted off into the night, calling for help or the police.

"Look what you did, Wade." Dante pointed out with a click of his tongue and lowered his gun. "You let the only guy that could probably pay us get away."

"Don't trip, chocolate chip! I'll just go chase after him and steal his wallet, like usual!" He assured his friend. 

Just before Dante could say anything in return, shots suddenly rung across his chest a few times. "Ow, that was anno--" A single bullet lodged into his skull and he fell backwards.

"What the shit?!" The mercenary squealed out. His head and arm were sliced apart, both flopping onto the concrete sidewalk.

The devil hunter groaned and pulled the bullet out of his skull. "That... I did not see coming."

"Well this sucks..." Deadpool mumbled from his dismembered head. "Yo, David Bowie, Can you give me a _hand_?" He asked, nodding over to his removed limb. "Heh heh heh! Get i--" A foot stomped on the head. "YOW!"

"You two ... don't die do you?" A much younger voice asked, almost with a hint of disappointment.

Dante got up back to his feet and looked up at their aggressor. Deadpool's head tried to wiggle out of their attacker's grasp, but they kicked it into a knocked over trashcan. The mercenary was then heard screaming when he discovered multiple stray cats inside that began clawing at him.

Their attacker was a teenage girl. She had short blonde hair that stopped halfway to her neck and rich blue eyes that could be compared to the ocean, mysterious, deep and dark. The most odd point was that she was dressed in an outfit that much resembled the character of Little Red Riding Hood. A basket was hung around her arm and an Uzi firmly gripped on her hand, trained right upon Dante.

Dante sniffed once, not really caring at this point. "You lost kid? Or did you get rejected for a fairy tale play?"

"Oi, shut your mouth." She immediately said, her eyes glaring daggers into the half demon. She had a slightly noticeable Northern English accent. "And the name's not 'kid,' either. It's Bulleta. But you should know me as the most feared and best demon killer of all time."

Dante let out a scoff upon hearing the statement. He tried holding in his laugh, which resulted in one of the blonde's to twitch with anger. "Most feared?" A snicker escaped his lips. " _Best? ..._ sorry kid, not sure if you got the memo but..." He trailed off, then grinned. "I'm the best."

From within the trashcan, Deadpool began to laugh hard at hearing what his friend said. "What a load of shit!"

"Keep sayin' that, old man." Bulleta sneered, showing a tiny grin. "But it all won't matter in the end after I'm done ripping you and your loud ass friend apart."

Dante smirked at her response, finally someone who could keep up with his trash talking. "Ooh, getting feisty now are we? Who sent you?" The demon hunter asked while raising his two handguns up. While Deadpool's head resumed screaming in pain in the background, his body pulled out one handgun and aimed at a wall, thinking it was the target.

"Not important. I got hired to take care of some big ass demon that was leading a a group lesser demons out here on a late night raid." She told him, then noticed the dead lesser devil hanging from the bar window. "Hmm... it looks like you already took care of the little shits for me. Which means you two owe me money big time."

" _MONEY?!_ " Deadpool's head screamed out, "We barely got any of that! Do you take bottle caps? Or how about points--OUCH NO NOT THERE!" 

Dante ignored his friend's cries of pain and instead was interested in this girl's mention of someone hiring her to fight demons. He never met many other demon hunters in his time, besides already dead ones he discovered during many missions, so this was certainly something. He knew he had to make sure she could back up her talk though. "Like hell we'd give you money. You're just lucky we made it way more easier for you, kid."

"I told you not to call me kid." Bulleta growled, growing more annoyed at her opponent's laid back attitude.

Deadpool's head shot out from the trash can, with angry cats still attaching to it. His body swatted at the head with the other dismembered arm, trying to rid of the felines. After a few awkward seconds of Bulleta and Dante simply staring at Deadpool as he tried to reattach his body parts. "What can I say, I drown in the pussy." He said and chuckled to himself.

A disgusted expression went across Bulleta's face as she stared at the mercenary. She then glanced over at the other devil hunter. "He doesn't shut up, doesn't he?" She asked, pointing her thumb back at him.

Dante shrugged his shoulders, but still kept his aim steady at the blonde. "Not even when he's asleep."

Deadpool cracked his knuckles and raised his dual katanas. "Enough banter! I wanna give this brat what she deserves for kicking me into that trash can full of cats! BRING IT!"

"With pleasure." Bulleta said and instantly skipped back a few steps and unloaded a barrage of bullets upon Dante and Deadpool. The not so dynamic duo scattered around looking for cover. After emptying out her magazine, the demon huntress pulled out a 6-barreled grenade launcher from her basket and fired shots at the duo. Shrapnel and debris flew everywhere as the two dodged every shot with what little ease.

Dante rolled out of the way and returned fire with Ebony and Ivory, but Bulleta was quick to side step out of the way.

"KATANA-RAMA!" Deadpool exclaimed as he ran at Bulleta with both katanas in hand, swinging them in a wild manner. Bulleta dodged faster than the Merc with the Mouth swung, she ducked and swung her foot around his legs, resulting in him dropping to the floor as he squealed and dropped his blades. The blonde demon huntress picked him up by the neck and belt, swinging around and throwing him directly at Dante.

"Oi, you can have your boyfriend back!" She called, watching the red clad mercenary scream as he was thrown towards the other demon hunter.

Dante ducked and turned back for a moment to see his ally crash into a trashcan, resulting in more stray cats attacking him. Shaking his head as he turned back, he answered her. "He's my roommate."

Bulleta tossed away her grenade launcher and reloaded her Uzi with grace. "That's what they all say."

"That's gotta be the dumbest thing I ever heard from that bratty mouth, kid." The white haired half demon said smugly as he dusted his shoulders. "Now come on, show me what you got!"

"Ladies first, then." She said, returning her weapon back and began running towards the older devil hunter.

Both demon hunters sprinted towards each other. Dante threw a straight jab, which was dodged by Bulleta, who attempted to send a haymaker to his sides. "You fight like a typical brat!" He mocked her as he stepped back to dodge the attack. "Nothing held back!" He went forward with a quicker punch to her chest.

"Look who's talking shit like one!" She returned, grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards her. She sent a swift uppercut to the older demon hunter's jaw with all of her might, but what bothered her that he was smiling the whole time.

"You call that a punch?" Dante sneered, he made a short dash towards her and struck her stomach with a curved punch. After catching her off guard, he grabbed a hold of her and threw her down to the floor. "Come on kid, what ever happened to that whole 'best demon killer' crap, huh?"

She arched her body, then pushed both of her legs up to land a double kick on his chest, sending him back with a falter. "You still running your mouth?" She questioned as she got back up.

Bulleta flipped over Dante, she made a grab for his hair which had allowed her to swing back and deliver a two legged kick to his back. Dante stumbled a bit forward, until he was knocked down further by another kick straight to his behind.

With a teleport, Deadpool appeared behind the demon huntress with a handgun pointed forward. Bulleta was quick to duck and grab a hold of the mercenary's wrist, she then turned around and threw him over his shoulder like he weighed nothing.

"MY KIDNEY!" He screamed out upon striking the floor. Bulleta twisted his wrist, causing him to drop the weapon.

She saw Dante in the air, readying a haymaker for her. The devil huntress pulled up the mercenary in front of her, which resulting in Dante actually punching Deadpool instead of her. The mercenary let out a high pitched screech as he was sent rolling to another set of trash cans.

"Enjoy your trip by the way!" Bulleta called out to Dante with a grin.

"What the--" Dante glanced down and noticed a ticking apple with a skull logo crudely painted on it. He was too late to react and was blasted away to the side of Deadpool.

"Thanks for punching me in the god damn jaw by the way, really appreciate it." The mercenary muttered sarcastically.

The demon hunter rolled his ice blue eyes in response. "You had it coming anyway."

Another explosive disguised as an apple suddenly rolled by them and the two looked at each other with wide eyes. "Aw not agai--!"

Dante slid behind a dumpster, with Deadpool flying from the explosion and landing right next to him. "How the hell does she fit all that in that tiny basket?" Dante wondered as he readied his handguns.

After fixing his broken jaw and scratched his chin, Deadpool answered with not much thought. "She has hammer space. Y'know how those cartoon characters always pull things outta their ass? Yeah it's kinda like that, hopefully for her sake not the ass part."

Dante deflated a bit, not even bothering to tell Deadpool on how wrong that statement was. He emerged from cover and opened fire at the blonde devil huntress, who began doing continuous back flips to dodge each shot.

"Holy ass! She's good... maybe even better than you, twinky boy!" Deadpool teased, earning him a smack to the head by Dante. The two charged at Bulleta wielding their respective swords. The young huntress smirked and threw multiple apple explosives at the charging duo, quickly forcing them to separate.

Deadpool was knocked away by the blast and crashed into a brick wall. "Ow... I landed on my keys. Oh shit, is that hissing I hear--" He began to screech in pain as even more cats began to pounce him.

Bulleta was scanning the area for the other red clad fool. She heard footsteps gunning for her and she reacted too late as her arm was grabbed by Dante. He swung her around and threw her towards the brick wall. She let out a curse as she picked herself back up, aiming her submachine gun at the white haired devil hunter and firing.

Dante reflected the shots with Rebellion but was met with a roundhouse kick from his opponent, sending him staggering back. Bulleta rushed him and sent another set of quick kicks, some were blocked, but most landed on his ribs and neck.

The Merc with The Mouth suddenly appeared from a teleport and drop kicked the devil huntress, sending her rolling back to the street. "GOOOAAAAL!" He screamed and pointed upwards with both hands.

Bulleta rebounded and reloaded her Uzi, then pulled out another one and aimed both at the two.

Dante whipped out Ebony and Ivory and aimed it at her as well, but he noticed Deadpool brandish his dual M1911s... one of them that were aiming at Dante himself. "What the hell are you aiming at me for?!"

"I don't know! It'd seem more dramatic that way!" He admitted. He smiled gleefully when his co-worker turned his own handguns on him as well. "Yes. Perfect Mexican stand off."

Dante smirked and nodded. "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, right?"

"Do you guys even care?" Bulleta demanded with annoyance. "You're having fun, aren't you?"

"Lots!" Deadpool answered and bounced in place. "Now come on, let's keep fighting!"

The blonde went silent, her angry expression was replaced with just confusion. "What's the point then? You guys can't die anyway."

Once she said this, the other two just glanced at each other and shrugged. Slowly, the three of them put their respective weapons down.

"So, uh..." Bulleta began, slightly awkwardly. "Demon hunters too, huh?"

Dante nodded in confirmation. "And I can probably believe you're one too. That's some skill, kid."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever!" Deadpool interrupted, "Wanna join our super secret club? We don't have a fancy mansion like the X-Men or a cool base like the Avengers, but we got cable! "

The blonde placed away her dual Uzis in her basket. "I'm assuming you're talking about your business?"

"Ignore him but yes, our business." The half demon answered, briefly shooting his friend a glare for a moment. His ice cold eyes landed on the younger huntress once more, again. "So... you in, or what?"

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Welcome To The Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After accepting their invitation to join the Devil May Cry, Bulleta ends up being less than pleased upon seeing the office itself and the fun loving behavior of its only two employees. Maybe fun loving is exactly what she needs?

"What the hell is this." Bulleta deadpanned as she stared at the depressing building with a look of disgust.

The building itself was in complete disarray as if it were built in the 1940's. The double doors were torn apart from the hinges and left carelessly on the ground. The windows were far too dirty to even peer inside the office itself, but there were clear blood spots and disgusting smudges that smeared them. The neon lit sign that read 'Devil May Cry' flickered a bit, then completely blew apart, with sparks flying in every direction.

"It's home..." Dante answered with a nostalgic smile, wiping a single tear away from his eye.

The blonde devil huntress turned over to him with a disappointed expression. "It's a shit hole."

"Yeah Red, it is a shit hole!" Deadpool chimed in, hanging his arms around the two's necks. "But it's _our_ shit hole!"

"Heh, you said shit and hole in the same sentence." The white haired demon hunter chuckled under his breath, his partner soon joining him in small laughter as well.

The devil huntress rolled her eyes and elbowed Deadpool in his gut. With a shriek, he shriveled up and collapsed on the floor.

"That's what you get, Wade." The half demon said and clicked his tongue, his friend responding by holding up a rude hand gesture.

Bulleta shook her head in disappointment at the two and was the first to walk up the steps towards the Devil May Cry building.

It was even worse inside.

Moths danced around the flickering lights and layers of dust decorated the walls. Pizza boxes, beer bottles, cans, hamburger wraps, tipped over sundaes, unfinished tacos, loaded weapons and bullet casings were everywhere; on the couch, on the pool table, on the wooden floorboards, even in the corners. There was a destroyed jukebox, a television playing static with multiple game consoles littered on the floor, their respective game controllers in a jumbled tangled mess nobody even bothered to untangle.

"Fuckin' hell, don't you two ever clean?" She questioned, turning her head back to see Deadpool holding Dante in a headlock.

After a bit of a struggle, the two broke apart. The mercenary blew a raspberry at his partner before answering. "Yeah we clean alright. And when I say _we_ I mean _ME_!" He turned around and threw his katana in Dante's direction.

The half demon caught the blade without even looking back. "Eh, he's right..." He admitted and slumped over to his seat, but carefully placed the katana neatly on the table. "I'm too damn lazy to clean anyway."

"Too damn lazy, huh..." Deadpool repeated under his breath. "THE ONLY THING YOU'RE GOOD AT CLEANING IS THE SUNDAES AND GREASY PIES YOU ALWAYS EAT!"

Bulleta's eyebrows raised up, the merc's outburst surprised her a bit.

"Yep. That's also true." Dante responded, unphased by his partner's anger.

Bulleta pinched the bridge of her nose, regretting the decision to join these two in hopes of a much better chance at getting payed and killing demons. She had no idea why, for one second, she believed these two were actually professionals.

"THAT'S IT YOU SNOW WHITE HAIRED TWINK, I'M GONNA--" The phone began to ring, interrupting Deadpool's threat.

The devil hunter stomped one of his feet on the desk, causing the phone to bounce up and land in his palm. "'Devil May Cry,' what's up?"

Bulleta perked up, she was hoping it was finally a job request. Until she noticed Dante letting out a chuckle.

"Oh _really_ now?" He asked, slightly sounding seductive. "I bet you look real damn good in that..."

She knew exactly what was going on and stomped towards the desk.

"Me? Oh no, I'm totally not bus--" The phone was swiped from the half demon's hand, "Hey!"

The blonde held the phone away from him. "What the hell do you think you're doing, huh?"

"Talkin' to a babe." Dante answered as if she was supposed to know the answer as well. "What else? Now gimme the phone."

"No." She denied and pulled the phone away further. "You're supposed to be professional about this demon hunting business! Why the hell are you giving out the business number as your own personal phone number so you can have creepy phone sex talk!?" She emphasized her last words with a scrunched, disgusted expression.

"Hey! That was _me_ who gave out the business number as my own personal phone number so I can have creepy phone sex talk!" Deadpool chimed in from the tattered couch he was laying down on.

With a look that can only be described as pure disappointment, Bulleta slammed the phone down on the table and began walking off. "I'm getting out of here."

"Whatever." Dante shook his head and folded his arms. "You hung up on the babe I was talkin' to anyway."

A flash of red lit up in front of Bulleta and appeared Deadpool, who had apparently teleported using his teleporter belt. "You're leaving already?" He asked sadly. "But you just got here! You were literally here for a quarter of this chapter! It says on the description of this shitty fic that you're a main character too!"

She decided to ignore the stranger part of what he had said and pushed past him. "I've seen enough. I can tell you guys aren't serious about what you do."

"Jeez, why do you gotta be so damn serious with it anyway?" The white haired demon hunter asked. "You gotta learn how to be laid back..." He said as he leaned further back on his seat. "Have a little fun once in a while, y'know? You're not on this world forever, kid."

Bulleta faked a laugh, not even bothering to turn around to face the half demon. "Like you losers know what fun is."

"What, you don't believe me?" Dante asked, sounding slightly offended for the first time. He fell back on his seat and flipped himself up, landing on the shelf behind his desk. "I'm the _definition_ of fun!" He proclaimed with a smirk.

The blonde devil huntress didn't even respond this time, she continued walking until she was out of the wreck of a building.

Deadpool looked up at his partner, disappointment visible through his mask. "You know that is the third time you've said that and caused a girl to walk away from you."

"Tch. Whatever." The half demon jumped off the shelf and landed back on his desk, causing a pizza box to fly up and land in his palm.

“Oh, I guess we’ll just be here with our _cool new weapons_!” Deadpool said aloud, making sure to catch the girl’s attention. He had noticed her glancing at their crates of weapons before after all.

Bulleta stopped in place and turned her head. “... Okay. 5 minutes I’ll spend looking at the guns. If you losers don’t get a serious call within that time frame, I’m gone for real.”

“I knew that’d work.” The Merc with The Mouth snickered under his breath. Dante simply rolled his eyes in response and got up to join his friend on showing Bulleta the weapons.

The blonde held up a China Lake pump action grenade launcher and her expression lightened a bit. “This is a classic!” She noted, a bit more emotion showing through her voice. She aimed through the iron sights and pumped the weapon to test it. “And it feels brand new too.” 

"Yeah, I’ve made some mods to it myself!” Deadpool said, feeling rather proud of himself. “Easier to pump, the stock has a rubber end so the recoil won’t hurt like a mother sucker on you!"

Dante nodded, pulling up an M1216 shotgun and handing it to the younger devil huntress, “This is a new one that just came in. Ain’t my style though, more of a double barrel kind of guy.”

“Oh right, I’ve heard about this.” The blonde said, aiming down the sights of the shotgun. “Not really a fan of shotguns though.” She placed down the weapon and continued through the crates. “Got any MGs?”

“I got just the thing for you, Red!” Deadpool said as he carefully pulled out a Rheinmetall MG 3 machine gun.

She nearly went wide eyed as she was handed the MG. She held it as tenderly as one would to a baby. “She’s beautiful…” She whispered to herself. “German ingenuity at it’s finest…” She continued to admire the weapon inside and out.

“Dude, if we get like 6 of those we can mount them on the windows.” Dante said to his partner with a small chuckle.

“Yes!” Deadpool happily agreed. “Those frickin’ Mormons can finally leave us alone then!” The two shared a small laugh, even noticing Bulleta cracking a small smirk on her lips.

“Well… you guys got the gear, so I guess you guys can’t be _that_ bad.” The blonde remarked, placing down the MG 3 back into the crate.

“Shiiiiit, wait 'till there's a weird and convenient excuse that involves fighting demons so you can see how really good we are at this shit.” Deadpool stated as he crossed his arms and smiled from beneath his mask.

A ringtone interrupted the moment and Bulleta pulled out a cellphone from her basket. “Hold on, I gotta take this.” She excused herself outside, leaving the two demon hunters inside.

“What the shitty titty, was that a flip phone in 2016?” Deadpool asked quietly.

“Uhh… I think so.” Dante responded with a mild shrug.

“I’m praying for her..."

**\---**

Bulleta stepped off the final step of the stairs and held the phone to her ear. “What? No, I did finish the mission, I just got a little side tracked. What? Oh, just put it in my account, like usual.” She put the phone away from her ear, staring at the outdated phone for a second. “... Also see if I can get a smart phone.” She hung up the phone and returned it back into her basket.

Her oceanic eyes saw a twinkle near the moonlight and upon realizing what it was, cursed and jumped out of the way immediately. A dozen arrows struck down where she was standing before and she had managed to dodge it just in time.

She pulled out her Uzi and pulled back the hammer. "That was too close..." She said and pulled a pair of sunglasses over her eyes and peered through them. Through the specialized lenses of the goggles disguised as sunglasses she spotted multiple figures on the rooftops and in the road ahead of her. More arrows were shot in her direction and she rolled out of harm's way. Bulleta picked up the door that had been kicked down and used it as a makeshift shield while she loaded up her Uzi. Bulleta fired a few shots to disperse the enemy and backed up into the Devil May Cry shop. She set the door back where it belonged and peaked outside again to see the figures were resuming their advance.

She bumped into Deadpool and turned her head back at him for a moment. "Nice sunglasses, Corey Hart! I too, enjoy wearing sunglasses at night like I'm in a bad neon 80's styled movie driving with a blank expression, like Ryan Gosling." The mercenary said, a smile visible through his mask. Bulleta stared at him blankly, not understanding the references.

She looked back outside, "There's something out there and I don't have enough cover to fight back properly. They're all on the high ground."

"Like Obi-Wan?" Deadpool asked and was returned with another blank stare from Bulleta. "Kids these days..." He said under his breath.

"Who's out there?" Dante questioned while walking past the two and straight outside, "It better be the pizza guy." He was then was impaled by a few arrows and simply sighed in annoyance. "Oh, these guys again."

“You met with them before?!” Bulleta questioned, until she saw Deadpool tear out the door again, much to her irritation.

The mercenary raised the door in the air proudly. "I'LL SHIELD US WITH THI--" As soon as he said this he was shot through his chest with arrows and he let out a tiny yelp of pain.

"You tried." Bulleta said with a shake of her head.

"They won't get another shot at me!" proclaimed Dante as he tore out the last arrow from his body and sprinted towards the enemy.

Undead Legionnaires, rotting corpses of fallen warriors possessed by demons, spawned from purple flames from beneath the ground. They charged at the demon hunter with their bladed weapons, while their comrades armed with arrows stayed up top to provide supporting fire. Dante threw out his hand behind him and Rebellion came flying right past Bulleta and Deadpool, then landing perfectly in the palm of his hand.

"Let's get crackin' bone heads!" He swung his broadsword right through a dozen legionnaires as if they were nothing. The demons blew apart into nothing but dust as Dante continued his assault on the calvary.

"This is what I get for trying to be nice." muttered Deadpool, plucking the final arrow plunged into his heart, then taking a moment to allow his healing factor fix him up. "Right, kid?" He looked over and found the blonde was not there, but had already joined the fight. "Wow, so quick to get a head start they are huh?" He asked you, then cracked his neck. "Welp, time for some maximum effort."

Bulleta jump kicked a legionnaire down and stomped its head clean off from its neck. "Eat it freak!" She spun around and brandished her Uzi, spraying a barrage of bullets straight into the skulls of other legionnaires. A undead warrior sprang towards her with its axe ready to strike, but she parried the attack with a combat knife. "Get lost!" She growled and drove the blade into the eye of the legionnaire. The devil huntress grabbed the demon by the shoulders and chucked it towards another direction.

This certain legionnaire was unfortunate enough to run straight into Dante, who struck Rebellion right through its other eyehole. "I'm just full of blind fury!" He laughed and ripped off the demon's skull, then swung his broadsword into a pair of undead warriors, cutting them in clean in half.

"Nice job, pretty boy, you should've just killed them right off the bat!" Deadpool complained, seeing the legionnaires continue to chase after them even after their lower half was sliced off. He aimed his dual handguns at the both of the demons and finished them off. "I always gotta clean up after you!"

"Whatever." Dante said with a roll of his eyes. Without even turning around he aimed his Ebony pistol behind him and shot down a group of legionnaires that attempted to ambush him from behind.

“Up top!” Bulleta warned aloud, and the three scrambled for cover from the incoming arrows. Deadpool slid forward on the ground, unluckily getting impaled with even more arrows.

“OW! THAT IS REALLY ANNOYING!” He shouted, brandishing his customized M16 assault rifle and aiming down a scope to take out the legionnaires on the rooftops. As the demons ran for cover themselves, Deadpool would not let them escape and activated his teleporter. A red silhouette replaced him for a split second and the mercenary reappeared up on the rooftops, and began to tear at the demons with his assault rifle.

Bulleta held back a legionnaire attempting to bite at her face. “Back the fuck up!” She shouted and held up the barrel of her submachine gun to it’s chin and fired. The demon’s skull was ripped apart and she kicked the corpse away.

The three continued their assault on the undead legionnaires, their numbers quickly dwindling thanks to the combined efforts of all three hunters. Within minutes, all that was left was the corpses of the demonic warriors and the three red clad mercenaries still standing tall.

“I think we’re clear now.” Bulleta concluded, her eyes darting around the area around them and making sure no more reinforcements had came.

Dante smirked and rested Rebellion on his shoulder, “Now that was pretty damn fun.”

Deadpool emptied his assault rifle upon another demon’s corpse. "Right?! This calls for a celebration!”

“But I wonder why they appeared here out of the blue…” Bulleta asked herself as she placed her Uzi back in its holster.

“Ahh forget it, Red.” Dante reassured the younger demon killer and patted her shoulder. “They were probably just looking for someone to kick their asses. So, are you now in or what?”

Bulleta looked at the two and let out a small sigh. With a shrug and a small smile, “Ehh… why not? You guys proved yourselves so I’d be glad to work with you two.”

Deadpool and Dante jumped in the air and did a double high five, “BOO-YAH!” They both exclaimed, leaving the blonde demon huntress rolling her eyes, a smile still on her face.

 _I got a feeling this’ll be an... interesting partnership._  Bulleta thought to herself, watching the two continue to celebrate.

**To Be Continued...**


	3. The Dead Are Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante and Deadpool happily accept Bulleta in as their newest partner. To celebrate this, the three go on a new mission where they will meet a certain famed zombie killer.

Inside the ragged Devil May Cry shop, two half inflated balloons lay on the floorboards, while _On Directing_ by _Tegan & Sara_ plays from a MP3 speaker.

“Do I _have_ to wear the blindfold?” Bulleta asked, unsure of what she was getting herself into. She carefully lit a cigarette and placed it on her lips, taking small puffs here and there.

“Don’t worry, Red, we’re wearing blindfolds too!” Deadpool reassured her, then bumped into a lamp.

“Wait… why the hell are _we_ wearing blindfolds anyway?” Dante asked his brother-in-arms, “This is her surprise, dude.”

“Well I didn’t want her to feel out of place!” The Merc with the Mouth pouted, still trying to figure his way around. “Jeez, is this what being Daredevil is like? This sucks!”

Bulleta let out an audible groan, “Guys, can we just get this over with? Seriously I don’t see the reason for all this extra shit.”

“Fine, fine!” Deadpool removed his blindfold, “You people are so needy!” He looked in his hands and felt like an idiot seeing the gift was in his hands the whole time. “Oh… well, here, you can look now!”

The blonde removed her blindfold and looked down at what was presented before her. A brand new, customized Uzi submachine gun.

“Another Uzi huh?” She said taking the weapon from Deadpool’s hands. She removed the magazine to see the ammunition was not the regular 9mm she had been using, but .45 ACP. “Incredible!” She said in amazement, even going as far to throw down her cigarette and put it out.

“Didju rike it?” Deadpool smiled underneath his mask. “Think of it as a welcoming gift!”

Bulleta checked up and down on the submachine gun. “The stock is extended for quicker and steadier aim…” She noted pressing up the stock on her shoulder as she aimed down the Reflex Sight attachment that replaced the regular ironsight. “A rail system that can be easily customized… a grip, laser sight, flashlight, anything!” She even acknowledged the reddish grip that had grooves that fit easier into one’s hand. It complimented the tiny red accents across the gun as well. “It’s amazing! And you just had this laying around?”

“Yeah, I’m not a fan of submachine guns and Wade just won’t let go of the dual MP5Ks he has.” Dante told her, “... But you can’t use that weapon just yet.”

The blonde looked up at the half demon in slight confusion, raising a single eyebrow. “Huh? Why not?” She almost sounded defeated at the thought of not being able to use the lovely weapon she had been gifted with.

“Well, kid… it’s your outfit.” Dante said, almost looking pained to even see Bulleta’s 'Red Riding Hood' get up.

“What’s wrong with this?” She asked, raising her arms a bit and examining her outfit. “I mean, I have been _kinda_ growing out of it… but it’s also useful for fooling demons.”

Deadpool placed his hands on his hips, “Red, even I wouldn’t fall for that. (Unless it was a maid outfit...)”

“Yeah, plus it’s cramping our style.” Dante shot a look at his partner for a moment, then rephrased himself, “... or _my_ style actually. Anyways, that technique has been long outdated, kid. As funny as it is to see a demon’s face when an innocent looking girl actually pulls a gun on them… it’s not exactly my preferred way of taking out those bastards.”

Bulleta scratched the back of her head, “I guess you’re kinda right… so what’d you have in mind? You guys got a uniform or something?”

“Nah, just some clothes an old friend of mine left here last time she came.” The half demon said, tossing a pair a black jeans, a grey tank top, and a red hoodie towards the younger girl.

Bulleta caught the clothes and looked down at the pile, “Uhh right." She said, sounding almost disappointed. "Let’s just hope she’s my size.”

After returning from the bathroom, Bulleta came down the steps, almost feeling a bit strange out of her usual get up. She had donned fingerless gloves, black combat boots, black jeans, knee and elbow pads, a handgun holster on her right thigh, a grey tank top, with a red zip up hoodie, over it all, hiding the holsters for her new Uzi on her side.

“10/10, yaaas, Gaga, slaaay~!” Deadpool said in a strange voice, almost treating it as if Bulleta was a model walking down a runway. He even held up a mirror for her to see herself.

“Looks good, kiddo. Probably would--” Dante was interrupted by the sound of ripping and his eyes went wide when he saw the blonde ripping the sleeves of the jacket off. “Dude, what the hell.”

Bulleta tossed the sleeves aside, “What?” She asked looking at the half demon, “I just wanted to show these guns off.” She smirked, flexing her arms in front of the mirror and admiring herself for a moment.

“Patty’s gonna kill me…” Dante said under his breath, that jacket happened to be her favorite thing to sleep in. _Add 'red jacket ' to the list of things I owe her…'_

\---

The three all sat on the tattered couch, feasting on a various assortment of fast foods and drinks. Bulleta sat with her legs on the table, munching on a burger as she watched Dante and Deadpool play a fighting game with an outstanding amount of tension between the two.

"Is that the best you got? Come on, I thought you were good at these!" Dante taunted as he shifted his body towards his straw and took a drink from his strawberry shake.

“CLOSE YA MOUTH, SON!” The Merc with the Mouth taunted back as he practically was falling off the couch with his foot pressing against Dante’s side.

“Ya won’t be saying that after I take you down again!” The half demon laughed as struggled to keep still on the couch.

“OOH, YOU SO PRINGLES, WHERE YO CURLY MUSTACHE AT?!”

“The hell does that even mean?!”

The two mashed away at their controllers, even Bulleta herself could feel a bit of hype from just watching the two play. She mentally noted how more relaxed she felt at the moment, since the longest time. Before, she would have never sat around just eating fast food and hanging out with people, she would have usually been on missions or cleaning her weaponry. She wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not, as she was broken out of thought once Deadpool had lost the game, as evidenced by him sprawled on the floor in a ball of shame.

“Wade, I’ll take that strawberry sundae on your tab now.” Dante guffawed as took a bite from his umpeeth slice of pizza. He held the controller to the blonde next to him, “Yhh whnna thry khd?” He asked, mouth full.

Bulleta burped and crushed her burger wrapper, tossing it into a trashcan nearby. “I’m good. Never was into games.”

The half demon gulped and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, “Or you mean you just never had time for them? C’mon Red, just try it!” He insisted setting the controller on her lap. “Could probably give Wade a fighting chance for once.”

“SHUT UP NERD!” exclaimed the black and red mercenary, who was still in a ball of self loathe. “BUT YEAH, C’MON KID GIVE IT A TRY!”

Being outnumbered two to one, she shrugged. “Alright, alright. Why not, I guess?” The blonde said as she sat up properly and held the controller awkwardly in her hands. “So… how do I work this?”

Before her question was answered, the phone began to ring, which caught her attention more. She looked at the phone, then to Dante, who smiled and said, “Hey, new members get to answer their first call.”

Bulleta grinned and hopped over the couch, picking up the phone. “‘Devil May Cry,’ what’s goin’ on?” Her grin faded somewhat, looking a bit more confused now. She looked over at the white haired half demon, “Oi, who’s Eva…?”

Dante’s smile faltered a bit, but he tried to keep his composure. His ice cold eyes looked down then back at the blonde, “That’s just the password. Means they know what we _really_ do.”

She nodded, “Alright, go ahead.” She said back into the phone. She was briefed on the details from the anonymous tip and confirmed it. “We’ll get on it as soon as we can.” She put down the phone, grinning at her two coworkers, “We got one, boys.”

“Heck yeah!” Deadpool suddenly sprung up from the floor and hopped over the table, gathering his weapons and ammo. “Let’s go, Snow White!” He addressed Dante, tossing his demonic broadsword and dual handguns to him. “Red, fill us on the mission details!” Bulleta did a recheck of her weapons and ammunition.

“Tip said there’s a butcher shop filled with monsters? Probably demons, doesn’t sound too bad, but the pay is $100,000 for each of us, plus more if there’s no damages or noise.” She informed them, applying a silencer on her Uzi and holstering it beneath her jacket.

“$100,000 each?!” squealed Deadpool, “This guy must really want these demons outta his store!”

“And the only hard part of this job just happens to be keeping quiet.” Dante chuckled with a shake of his head. He spun Ebony and Ivory and placed them in the holsters behind him. “Let’s get this party started!”

\---

The three arrived at their destination via Deadpool’s teleporter belt. The team appeared from a red flash that lit up the dark streets for a moment, with Bulleta looking much more uncomfortable than the other two.

“How do you get used to that…?” She asked him, feeling like she was going to throw up her lunch.

"Kid, there are times where you just throw up your insides so much you just don't have insides anymore." The Merc with the Mouth answered, rather cheerfully.

Dante tapped the younger devil huntress’ back, “No worries Red, even that made me sick before but you do get used to it. Now come on, let’s get this done.”

Bulleta rolled her eyes, pulling out her new Uzi from her holster. “Right. Keep in mind that extra pay if we keep this shit clean and quiet!”

“I always keep my shits clean and quiet!” Deadpool said and unslung his assault rifle from his hip.

Dante and Bulleta both shared a small disgusted look, then went into formation. Dante took point, with Bulleta right behind him, and with Deadpool scanning the area behind them. The three were quick to reach the shop, it was ragged and broken down, giving off the vibe that it had been abandoned for quite a long time.

"The hell? Why the fuck would they want us to keep this job clean if this shit’s already a wreck!” Bulleta questioned, looking at the shop that had definitely seen better days. “This makes the Devil May Cry shop look good…”

Dante rolled his eyes at the comment and kicked open the front door, aiming Ebony and Ivory around the room. It was near pitch dark and the smell of rotting corpses was far too obvious.

“Reminds me of my old apartment. Smells like it too. Just less bodies.” Deadpool noted to himself.

“Red, Wade, wanna light this place up a bit?” Dante asked his two comrades.

“If you mean burn this place down, I’d be glad to.” Bulleta grumbled and turned on her flashlight attachment from her Uzi.

Deadpool followed her example, turning on the light attachment from his M16. “And then God said, ‘Let there be light. And hot wings. And hot girls. And hot winged girls.’”

“Hold on.” Dante said, raising his hand in a fist behind, signalling his team to stop. “I think I heard something…” He looked about the area, it was rather large for a simple butcher shop, so he couldn’t take any chances. Especially with the smell of dead bodies making even breathing the air a strain. “Red, Wade, search the area. Check the corners too.”

“Got it.” Bulleta said and split off from the group to the left.

Deadpool to the right, checking the blood stained floor until he found a more prominent blood trail that looked even fresher. “Here’s the best idea ever: follow the blood trail!” The Merc with the Mouth whispered to himself and followed the trail. He came across what appeared to be a corpse of a soldier in riot armor. “Got a live one here! Well more like 100% far from live, but hey, it’s something!”

Bulleta and Dante caught up to the merc and examined the body as well. The devil huntress knelt down next to the body, turning its body slightly to see a well recognized insignia on the soldier’s shoulder. It was the top of a red and white umbrella.

“Umbrella Corps.” The blonde confirmed to her two comrades.

“Umbrella? The hell those bastards doing here?” Dante growled through his teeth.

“This could’ve been a facility of some sorts. Probably hiding another one of those T-Virus type shits.” Bulleta wondered, further examining the corpse. “This guy was not having it. Full body armor and he still got ripped apart.”

Deadpool heard a low groaning and turned his weapon at a door that led to the deeper parts of the shop. “Uhh… Red? I think you might be right!” The two devil hunters turned their head to see what their comrade was pointing out.

A group of zombies began to shuffle out from the door. Their blood soaked mouths were ripped off, exposing their bared teeth. The undead were all dressed in Umbrella uniforms as well, from scientists to soldiers.

“Shit, I guess they must’ve been the smell.” Bulleta said aiming down the sights of her Uzi.

Dante brandished Coyote-A, his double barreled shotgun, and aimed right at the shambling corpses. “Well then, let’s get a little house cleaning done! Light ‘em up!”

The three began to open fire upon the undead that scrambled for them. Another door bursted open, with more of the walking corpses being attracted to the noise.

“NOBODY INVITED YOU GUYS!” Deadpool exclaimed and turned his attention to the new horde, unloading his assault rifle at them and reloading a new magazine flawlessly. “That was for Barry! That was for Frost! And THAT was for Resident Evil 6!”

“Shit, there’s too many of them…” Bulleta cursed to herself, “We can forget about that fucking extra pay now!” She said before she bit the pin off a grenade and tossed it into the room where the zombies had been coming from. She dived for cover and reemerged to pick off any other zombie that had managed to make it out of the blast.

"Here comes the dead meat!" said Dante, blasting apart the undead with his shotgun. He sidestepped out of a lunging zombie's way and lifted it up minimal effort threw it towards its other brethren. "Heads up!" He called out as he shot at the roof, causing the fragments of said roof to fall and crush the zombies, leaving behind a sickening blood splatter.

Bulleta unloaded her Uzi upon another horde, then pulled out her M9 Beretta handgun and fired off a few more shots at the incoming zombies. “Fuck! At this rate I’ll be outta ammo in minutes!”

“You got that right!” Dante agreed and smashed the butt of his shotgun into the skull of an undead corpse and kicked it away. “Wade, where you at?!”

The Merc with the Mouth was holding down a zombie and repeatedly blasting its face with his M1911 handgun, “DIE! DIE! DIE!” He shouted over and over. Deadpool ran over to his comrades and dropped a few more magazines and shells for them. “They just keep coming! And I really don’t wanna get bitten, I dealt enough with that zombie crap when I met my own zombified head from another dimension!”

”Let’s push the bastards back!” Bulleta exclaimed pulling two pins from two grenades and tossing them into the hordes. Deadpool followed suite by firing the grenade launcher attachment from his rifle towards the horde as well. The three then quickly took cover until the smoke settled from the explosives.

Dante was the first to pop out of cover, scanning the area for any more zombies. “I think we got ‘em…” His two comrades stood up with him, the three of them examining their handy work.

The half demon scratched the back of his head, not feeling at all satisfied with the short lived fight. "That wasn’t even fun, just annoying. But there’s obviously a bigger reason why all these meat bags are here.”

Deadpool nodded in agreement. "Yeah, zombies just don't get all stuck inside one building with each other like sardines. It's not even Comic-Con yet."

“I bet our answer is deeper inside this place.” Bulleta suggested, nodding towards the doors that the zombies had come from. “Knowing Umbrella, there’ll probably be even crazier shit down there too.”

Just as she said this, a hulking figure stepped from the door, grabbing the attention of the three mercenaries. It appeared to be an even larger zombie dressed in a typical blood soaked butcher’s outfit, with its face covered up with a crude brown bag and its arms being replaced with two menacing sharpened weapons, one a long blade and another a bloody hook. It stood tall, looking down upon the three with a barely audible growl underneath the mask.

"See what I mean?" The blonde said, sounding more annoyed than anything.

"Well look at _'Mr. Straight Outta Silent Hill'_ here!" Deadpool exclaimed with his hands towards the new opponent. Upon his comment, the Butcher raised its weapons and suddenly charged at the annoying merc first. “Motherfu-!” Deadpool barely managed to jump out of harm’s way and rolled off to the side.

The monster didn’t stop though, it continued its assault towards Dante now at extreme speed.

"You're quick for your size, buddy!" Dante quipped as he just barely dodged a slash from the Butcher. He ducked to dodge another attack and he slid in-between the legs of the Butcher. "But not quick enough!" Dante stabbed Rebellion through the hulk's chest, and with his free hand he used Ebony to lay a barrage of bullets on the back of the monster's head.

"Fatality~!" Deadpool's called out in sing song voice.

Dante grinned but realized that the Butcher began to move again; the latter turned around and gave Dante a front kick to the chest, sending the demon hunter stumbling back. "What? Is that the best you got?" He taunted and fired both of his handguns at the beast this time, who in turn wasn't affected by the shots from its padded body.

"Oi, bad move to forget about me!" Bulleta exclaimed as she hopped on the Butcher's back, driving her knife into the hulk's neck and shoulders. "Why won't you die!?" She growled as she decided to change tactics and stick a grenade on the back of the beast and jumped away. Bulleta looked up to see the explosive had barely done anything to the Butcher. “Son of a bitch...” She cursed to herself while readying her Uzi.

Just then, the three heard the sound of a motorbike speeding by… and it was heading for the store itself. A man crashed a motorbike into the store striking the Butcher, but the beast did not falter and tore the bike in two.

The cyclist jumped off his bike in time and brandished a SPAS-12 shotgun towards the beast and opened fire. The shells were actually sending the beast staggering back and Dante decided to follow the same example, spinning up Coyote-A and shooting at the Butcher.

The creature roared at the two firing upon it and swung its bladed weapons at them, only for them to jump out of the way. Deadpool and Bulleta joined in, firing their automatic weapons at the creature. The Butcher attempted to block the shots with its arms as it backed away into the door where it originally came from, until it was far deeper into the shop, escaping and leaving the four behind.

“That should hold it back for a while.” The man in the motorcycle helmet said, reloading shells into his weapon. He was dressed in grey military fatigues with an olive drab combat vest, pads, black boots and gloves. An insignia on his shoulder read B.S.A.A. (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) “But it’ll come back even stronger unless we go in there and burn this whole facility down to the ground.”

“Yeah that sounds like a great plan and all but… who the hell are you?” Dante asked the cyclist, aiming his shotgun at him.

“Whoa, easy there buddy…” The man said, putting his hands in the air, “I’m on your side.” He said and removed his helmet. “The name’s Chuck. Chuck Greene.” The man revealed himself from underneath the helmet.

Upon seeing who it was, Dante put down Coyote-A and smirked a bit. “No way? The hero of Fortune City?”

Deadpool slung his assault rifle back to his hip, “Holy crap! I’m a big fan!”

Chuck had an slight uncomfortable smile but nodded in response, “‘Hero’ is a bit of a stretch… I was just doing what anyone else would’ve done.”

“Chuck Greene?” Bulleta started, “Heard you found work in the B.S.A.A. after you and Frank West took down Phenotrans.”

“Right.” Chuck confirmed, pulling out his B.S.A.A. badge, “Captain Greene, at your service. But enough with the formalities, my mission right now is to get down there, exterminate that B.O.W. and this whole facility.”

“That was a B.O.W.? No wonder it was a tough son of a bitch...” Bulleta noted, then pulled the bolt back from her Uzi. “If you’re here to clear this place out, then count us in.”

“What she said. I wanna teach that bastard a lesson.” Dante said and cracked his knuckles.

“Yes, cool line here, too!” Deadpool chimed in, trying to atleast keep up with everyone.

Chuck nodded, “Thanks. Now c’mon, let’s send that butcher to the grinder.”

\---

The four walked down a set of spiral stairs that led into the deeper bowels of the building. The temperature began to get noticeably lower the farther they went down and the splatters of dried blood that decorated each step grew larger and larger. The rotting stench from earlier was far more pungent than the upper level, but luckily the four hardened warriors were used to such a scent by now.

Reaching the final step they came across a large pile of fresh, new blood, which eventually went on as a trail leading to a closed off mechanical door.

“That must be where that freak headed into. Stay on your guard.” said the B.S.A.A. captain.

“It’s hard to stay on my guard when lil Wade is the size of a peanut thanks to this freezing ass place.” Deadpool commented through his shivering.

Dante frowned at the comment and went first towards the door to open it, until he realized the door’s handle was broken off due to ice forming up around it. “Well the handle’s gone.” He deadpanned.

“You tried knocking?” asked Chuck sarcastically.

The half demon smirked and took a step back, “Knock knock!” He said as he kicked down the steel door, sending it crashing into another horde of the undead that had been cooped up inside the room. Before he could brandish his handguns, the half demon was impaled in the chest by a sharp blade. “Well this sucks.” He sighed and was thrown inside the room. Dante landed in a roll and looked around quickly, seeing he had been tossed into an abandoned laboratory. He checked on his injury and clicked his tongue, “I just got this coat dry cleaned!” He complained upon seeing his own blood splatter on his beloved red coat.

“Holy shishkabob!” Deadpool exclaimed as the Butcher emerged from the doorway. “ONLY I CAN DO THAT TO HIM!” He aimed his assault rifle and fired a grenade from the launcher attachment, sending the beast back. Chuck held up his SPAS-12 and fired off a few shells into the creature. “That thing is a B.O.W.! Normal firepower won’t be enough to take it down! We need something stronger!” He looked past the beast and saw Dante fighting off zombies within the lab. “There could be something in there!”

“I’m on it!” Bulleta said and slid right under the the Butcher’s leg and into the laboratory. “You two distract it while I find something!”

“Oh boy, I love being the distraction!” squealed Deadpool as he brandished his dual katanas. He held up his blades toward the B.O.W. “Let’s do this mano e mano! Except with swords, because mano e mano actually means fist-” He was interrupted when the Butcher sent a straight kick into the mercenary’s face. “MUH DIK!”

The B.S.A.A. captain finished reloading his shotgun and continued to fire at the beast. “Some distraction, buddy! Now get up and help me out!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Deadpool grumbled after he had readjusted his broken jaw. He sped towards the Butcher and swung his blades at it. The B.O.W. parried the attack with its own bladed weapons and swung back. The Merc with the Mouth was too quick for the B.O.W. as he ducked down to avoid a slashing attack, then moon walked to dodge the Butcher slamming down its weapons into the ground. “Too fast for ya!” He taunted and slashed his blades upward at the wrist of the Butcher, greatly damaging it.

Chuck took this opportunity to fire a few well aimed shots at the damaged wrist of the B.O.W., slowly tearing its bladed hand completely off. “Now for the other one!”

\---

The Son of Sparda sprinted towards a zombie and drop kicked it, sending the walking corpse spiraling into a group of its own and knocking them all down like bowling pins. “Strike!” The devil hunter exclaimed and spun Coyote-A out to blast a few more zombies that staggered towards him.

Bulleta hopped over multiple desks and threw aside multiple containers and boxes. “There’s nothing fucking useful in here!” She exclaimed and looked up to see a power generator that was still operational. Her eyes then went over to the large power cables that were connected to the generator itself and finally got an idea. “Oi, Dante, the power cables!” She called out to her comrade.

The half demon turned to see what she was looking at and ran over towards the generator. “Red! Cover me while I get this done!” He said as he pulled out Rebellion.

“Got it!” She held her Uzi in one hand and her M9 Beretta in another, filling lead into the skull of any corpse that got too close for comfort. Dante slashed his demonic broadsword down into the cables and sliced them apart, which caused electricity to violently spark and crackle about. He gripped two cables in both hands and looked over to see Deadpool and Chuck retreating back.

“Hope you guys found that super secret weapon!” cried out Deadpool as he emptied the last of his ammunition into the Butcher that was striding towards them. Chuck dropped his shotgun and pulled out his ‘Nine-Oh-Nine’ handgun and fired at the B.O.W.

“Keep it busy!” Dante called and sprinted right towards the distracted Butcher.

"That's what we've been doing!" cried out Deadpool as his gun began to click. "Oh crappy dappy doo..."

The half demon held the two cables and with a red hot smirk he thrusted the cables into the back of B.O.W. The Butcher roared as it was violently electrocuted and practically cooked from the inside out. Its entire body twitched uncontrollably and its head blew apart into multiple pieces. The B.O.W. fell to its knees, with smoke emitting from its neck, then dropped onto the ground. “Lights out, big guy.” The half demon said with a grin and tossed the cables aside.

“Now that was pretty cool.” Bulleta complimented and holstered her submachine gun.

Dante coughed out a small chuckle, “You mean it, Red?”

“No.” She replied with a small grin, earning a disappointed look from the older demon hunter.

“Good work, now let’s get back up top.” Chuck told the crew, “I’ll be calling in reinforcements to clean up. Let’s move.”

\---

B.S.A.A. soldiers arrived on the scene within minutes and began preparations to destroying any trace of the facility and burning the corpses of the B.O.W. and the zombies. A few armored vehicles and sentries blocked the road to prevent any curious civilians to see what was going on.

“We’ll be taking care of things from here.” Chuck informed the three, “Your help was greatly appreciated. I’m sure I couldn’t have done it without you guys.”

“Ehh, it was nothin’.” the Merc with the Mouth dismissed casually, “Fighting monsters and shit? Just another Wednesday for me. Well my inner monsters atleast, but we don’t talk about that.”

“Uhh right…” The captain said, then turned his attention to Bulleta and Dante. “So you’re all mercenaries? How’d you find out about this place? I was just minutes away from you three.”

“Got an anonymous tip about some strange noises, monsters, and things needed to be cleaned up.” Bulleta explained, “Wasn’t one of you guys right?”

“We don’t hire mercenaries.” Chuck said with a shake of his head. “I’m betting it was Umbrella themselves. They got a track record of hiring mercenaries to clean up after their shit. Most of the time they don’t even make it out alive, so it’s a double win for Umbrella so they can see how well their sick experiments would fare against trained mercenaries.”

Dante clicked his tongue, “Well too bad for them we aren’t your everyday merc. All we really care is when we’re getting our pay from those losers.”

“Yeah!” the Merc with the Mouth agreed, “I’m gonna need compensation for all the bullets I wasted killing already dead things!”

“Not sure if Umbrella would actually pay you guys since… well, they’ve been disbanded for a while.” Chuck answered with a shrug.

All three of the mercs groaned loudly, like a small band of spoiled children.

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me? Then who’s the shit stick that hired us?!” Bulleta questioned the B.S.A.A. captain, who shrugged again.

“Could’ve been anyone… remnants of Umbrella or other corps that came after it like Tricell or Neo Umbrella.” He said unsurely. “Look I don’t have all the answers, I just work to make sure anyone who threatens the world with bio weapons is dealt with.”

A B.S.A.A. soldier ran up to Chuck and stood at attention. "Captain Greene, Major Redfield is on the comms."

"Alright, let him know I'll be there in a moment." He told the soldier, who nodded and went back to his post. “Right, I have to get going now-”

“Wait what?!” interrupted Deadpool, “We didn’t even get a single cent through this job!”

Chuck squinted at the Merc with the Mouth, “If you think we’re gonna hire you-”

“Ooh!” Dante interrupted him as well, “Look at us! Big o’ B.S.A.A. too scared to hire some mercs to do some dirty jobs for us!” He mocked in a childish voice. “Come on, dude. You saw how well we took care of them. You military jarheads need us!”

“Mhm, what they said.” agreed Bulleta as she crossed her arms. “Besides, I’m pretty sure your superiors wouldn’t wanna waste any more of you guys, right? I heard you B.S.A.A. guys are busy every single day with all the bigger outbreaks in the world too. What’s wrong with sending in a couple expendable mercs to do the dirtier jobs?”

Chuck facepalmed, he wasn’t going to win this one. “Fine, fine. I’ll send up a report to Command. I’ll see if I can get you another job that actually pay.” He said with a defeated sigh.

The three celebrated and all took turns high fiving each other and doing a series of strange hand shakes as well.

“But it’s not for sure, alright?” He stressed. “Listen, I gotta get going now. But I’ll let you know on any news.” The captain nodded at the three and jogged off to catch up with his men.

“Heh, that was good.” Dante complimented Bulleta and patted her on the back.

“Thanks. If we’re gonna end up working with these military types, we should take every chance we can take to fill our pockets.” she said with a devious smirk.

“I know what else can fill my pockets!” Deadpool chimed in, showing off a dismembered zombie arm in his pocket.

The two devil hunters looked at him in disappointment.

“Dude, you better not bring that back to the shop.” Dante told his coworker.

“Aww, why not?!” whined the Merc with the Mouth. He pulled out the arm and held it in front of the half demon. “Look, he’s pretty _handy_ , don’t you think?”

Dante swiped the zombie arm from Deadpool and bonked him on the head with it. “Don’t let this get outta _hand_ , Wade.”

Deadpool took back the arm and held it in a threatening stance, “Now don’t make me give you a back _hand_ , boy!”

The half demon scoffed and crossed his arms, “I can take you down with my _hands_ behind my back.”

“Oh yeah?!” exclaimed the red and black mercenary, “Well I-!”

Bulleta swiped the zombie arm from Deadpool and slapped the two with it, then again for good measure. “Another pun and I’m gonna shove the arm both ways up _both_ of your asses.”

“Ooh fun! Let’s do a coin flip! Head means Dante gets the bone part and tails means Dante gets the fingers part!” Deadpool said as he fished out a coin from one of his pouches. The blonde devil huntress slapped the Merc with the Mouth with the zombie arm once more.

“I think I know why he wants to keep the hand now…” Dante said, trying to hold back a snicker.

“Yeah, Fabio, I heard you were getting lonely so I--” Deadpool was interrupted by Dante getting him in a headlock.

“Lonely?!” The half demon exclaimed, actually sounding slightly offended,  gripping harder on the mercenary, “I got hella babes waiting for me you disfigured jackass!”

“RED! QUICK RECORD THIS! I’M GONNA LIST ALL THE GIRLS DANTE FAILED TO GET AT!” squealed Deadpool through gasps of air.

Bulleta rubbed the bridge of her nose, not even bothering to stop the two as they continued to struggle with one another.

“BLACK CAT!”

“Keep your trap shut!”

"MORRIGAN!”

“That was just for one night!”

“CHUN-LI! AND YOU GOT ARRESTED FOR IT!”

“Why you little-!”

\---

Bulleta walked in first past the doorway of the Devil May Cry building, it still was missing its doors and no one had bothered to fix it. The neon sign had already stopped sparking at this point, which was good, less fire hazards the better. Behind her, Dante and Deadpool still continued to wrestle each other as they made their way into the office as well.

“AND DON’T FORGET DORMAMMU’S SISTER!”

“Mistakes were made, Wade!”

“DUDE, EVEN HULK GOT AT HER! YOU PROBABLY GOT DICK RADIATION NOW!”

The two crashed onto the pool table and continued to struggle until they both fell of the table and onto a stack of pizza boxes. Bulleta simply took kicked off her boots and laid back on the couch, placing a cigarette in between her lips while ignoring the two’s ordeal. As she tried to light the cigarette with her faulty lighter, she heard a two beat knock on the wall. Though, she was far too busy attempting to light her cigarette and simply said, “We’re closed!”

“Oh? You guys don’t seem very closed.” A young woman’s voice pointed out.

Bulleta looked up to see two young women standing at the door way. One was a tall, mature looking blonde woman dressed in black clothing who had a menacing demonic bladed weapon on her back. The other, a younger woman with a few notable scars on her face and legs, had short jet black hair, donned in sunglasses, a white button up, black skirt and long boots that reached up to her knees; the most noticeable on her person was the hulking rocket launcher that was strapped to her back and the various weaponry and ammunition on a belt around her waist.

The blonde devil huntress’ oceanic eyes stared at the two women for a few seconds, before shaking herself back to reality. “Uhh… can we help you?” She asked, almost sounding unsure if that had been the right thing to say.

“Trish?” Dante said as he looked at the women, not caring he had been in a chokehold from his comrade.

“Lady?” said Deadpool after noticing them as well, he was distracted enough so that his half demon coworker could throw him over his shoulder.

Trish and Lady both had a devious smirk on each of their lips. "What? Did we keep you waiting?"

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: chuck greene, hailing from the dead rising series. as well as our two new main characters: lady and trish, from the devil may cry series (obviously.)


	4. Ladies' Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two familiar faces come back upon hearing Dante's never ending financial issues with hopes to fix it, as usual. Trish and Lady take the trio on a mission to protect a woman under the hunt from various demons out for her head.

“What, did we keep you waiting?”

The blonde woman was Trish, though she appeared human, she was actually a full demon. She was created in the spitting image of Dante's late mother by the powerful Demon King Mundus and her purpose was originally to kill Dante. Though she had received a change of heart after he had saved her life and since then they have been working together extensively.

The raven haired woman was known as Lady, a name Dante had given her that she gladly accepted after abandoning her real name. While on a mission to stop her father, Arkham, from gaining absolute power, she crossed paths with Dante himself and being the devil huntress she is she had her sights aimed on him. Much like Trish, she also decided to work with the half demon instead and became good friends with him as they stopped the demonic threat her father created. 

“Aww, did you guys miss us?” Lady teased as she crouched down to pinch Deadpool's cheek.

“Hell no.” Dante answered, sounding mildly offended. The devil huntress shot him a look and pinched the mercenary's cheek even harder. 

“OW! OW! STOP IT! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, TEAR MY FACE OFF!?” Deadpool shrieked as he tried prying the raven haired woman's hands off his face.

The half demon stood up to face the demoness who resembled his mother in nearly every detail, a fact that he still couldn’t get over. It was like seeing a phantom of the past every time. “What are you two doing here?” He questioned, sounding much more mellow now. “Didn’t you set up shop on the East coast?”

Trish shrugged and walked by the table, swiping a slice of pizza for herself and taking a small bite. “We did.” She said in between munches. “But Lady blew it.” Her eyes darted down to her partner in crime.

“What?!” Lady exclaimed and sprung up to her feet. She took off her sunglasses, revealing her eyes that were both of separate colors. The left being red and the right being a blue-ish green. “I did not _‘blow it!’_ I just happened to _FIRE_ a _ROCKET_ at the _DEMON_ that was near our _SHOP!_ ”

“Right. So you blew it. Literally. You blew it up.” Trish deadpanned, a mild disappointed look in her ice blue eyes.

“Your face blew it.” The raven haired woman muttered under her breath, putting her sunglasses back on her face.

Dante got in between the two women. “Whoa, okay, hold on. From what I’m getting at is that your shop got wrecked now you’re coming back here?”

“You think we wanna work with _you_ again?” Lady scoffed out a laugh hard. “We can totally buy your crummy ass shop from you!”

“NO! DON’T TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!” Deadpool shrieked, hugging the devil huntress’ leg. “SHE’S MY BABY!”

“Actually she was _my_ baby first…” Dante reminded his partner with a raised eyebrow.

“We just wanted to check up on our favorite little troublemakers.” Trish pointed out, walking around the ruined office. “And it looks like you haven’t changed one bit.” She said with a click of her tongue, noting the even more ragged appearance of the building since her last visit.

The demoness looked down to see a younger blonde girl on the couch. “I'm sorry for being rude, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Trish, my partner's Lady, and you must be..." She trailed off, a friendly smile appearing on her lips as she extended her hand.

“Call me Bulleta.” The blonde devil huntress introduced herself as she stood up to shake the demoness' hand and then the older demon huntress'.

“So you must be the new gal keeping these losers in check, right?” Lady chimed in, hanging her arm around Trish’s neck. “We can’t thank you enough, I mean what would these guys do without us, amiright ladies?”

“Celebrate, obviously!"

"Agreed, Wade."

“Ah, no, I just joined in today actually.” Bulleta told the women.

Trish smiled and nodded. “Mmm, well welcome aboard then!” She held her fingers towards the younger devil huntress’ cigarette. “Here, lemme get that for you.” She snapped her fingers and a small spark of lighting emitted from it, lighting the cigarette.

Bulleta nearly blushed and nodded in thanks. “Appreciate it.” She said, nearly fumbled her words and she tried to relax herself taking in a puff.

“Listen you two,” Dante began, addressing the two women. “We got this place _totally_ under control…” He said as the power to the building suddenly went out. “Totally under control.”

Trish raised up her hand and produced a small ball of lighting within the palm of her hands, slightly illuminating the office. “You’re a mess, Dante. Luckily for you, we just have enough cash and jobs to help you out.”

“ _Again._ ” Lady added, not sounding too amused. “Just add it on the list of things you owe us.”

The half demon looked about the room and raised his hands up in defense. “Why is it always me?”

Bulleta perked up in interest. “You guys got jobs? That _actually_ pay?”

“Duh!” Lady scoffed and hung her arm around the younger girl’s neck, “You want in? We can _totally_ kick more ass together!”

“Sure.” The younger blonde answered with an excited smile. “When do we start?”

“Hey, you can’t just take our new recruit from us!” Deadpool complained, pulling Bulleta away from the raven haired devil huntress and holding her protectively. “If she’s going, me and Pretty Boy are coming too!”

“I never said you two weren’t invited, Wade.” Lady pointed out with an annoyed glare.

“Oh... I totally knew that."

“Let’s get going then?” asked Trish and she walked past Dante. “Hope you two haven’t gotten rusty.”

"No rust here, Trish. These guns get oiled every day." He said with a scoff, flexing one arm. 

“Yeah, I catch him sometimes oiling his naked body and flexing in front of a mirror and making kissy faces at himself.” Deadpool said aloud, resulting in Dante pulling out Ivory and shooting right past the mercenary’s ear, damaging his hearing. “OW! I’M BLIND! I’M BLIND IN MY EAR!”

“So what’s the job?” Bulleta asked the raven haired woman, trying to ignore Dante and Deadpool's arguments behind her.

“VIP security, basically. But it ain’t as lame as it sounds.” Lady began explaining, “There’s this woman who had a particular history with demons, specifically her ancestors. She is a descendant of a powerful magician who had defended his people from demons time and time again. Even now the demons wanna settle a score with that man’s descendants, which is a little too extreme, in my opinion.”

“Sounds like some serious shit." The blonde devil huntress mused. “Alright, we’re in then.” She looked over at Dante and Deadpool. “Let’s gear up.”

The half demon swung over a new red coat and holstered Coyote-A, Ebony and Ivory behind him. He balanced Rebellion on his shoulder and went towards the door. The Merc with the Mouth slung his new customized M4 Carbine on the side of his hip, patted on his dual M1911 handguns on his thigh straps, and made sure his twin katanas were firmly readied on his back. The blonde devil huntress hid a combat knife on the small of her back then did a recheck on her ammo and reholstered her Uzi and M9 Beretta on their respective holsters.

The group all made their way out the door to follow Trish who had been waiting outside. Lady continued her debriefing with Bulleta, while Deadpool and Dante followed suite, partly listening in to the debriefing but mostly grumbling to each other on how their thunder is being taken by Lady and Trish.

“We’re gonna head to the airport to meet up with the woman, who’ll be mostly guarded by her own security, but she hired me and Lady to ensure she make it to her mansion as an insurance policy.” Trish continued the explanation. “I’m sure she won’t mind a little extra firepower watching her back. Doesn’t sound too bad, right boys?” She asked the two in the back with a grin.

“To wipe your ass, first place tissue in between cheeks, then rub back and forth.” Deadpool said in return, earning him a confused look from the demoness.

“Kinda getting deja vu from this...” The white haired half demon said to himself. “Anyways, the airport is some time away. Let’s take the car.” He looked over to his partner in crime. “Got the keys, right Wade?”

The Merc with the Mouth froze in place, “So about the car… remember that poker game? So what had happened was-”

“Wade, did you use my car as a bet.”

“Yes.”

“Did you win.”

“Yes.”

“Then where’s the car.”

“Yes. I mean, bottom of the river after I was shot at for winning.”

“Wade, start running. Now.”

“Yes.”

Trish got in between the two before another fight could spark. “Easy, easy. We’ll just take my car.” She offered, while shooting sharp looks at the both of them. “There better not be any damn problems too, alright?” She warned as if it were the umpteenth time she had done so for the two of them.

“Sure thing,  _mom._ ” Dante mockingly said, then gave Deadpool a stern look.

“You know a lot of people have daddy kinks, but mommy kinks are even rarer. Never thought I'd finally meet the man with said kink." The mercenary snickered under his mask.

"You must find talking out of your ass your favorite kink, Wade.”

"I believe that's called 'ass-eating.'"

\---

Trish was at the wheel of her 2015 Chevy Impala convertible, with Lady at the shotgun and Deadpool, Dante, and Bulleta in the back seats. _The Morning_ by _The_ _Weeknd_ played through the speakers of the car as they drove through the city just now experiencing the sunrise. The darkened sky had now became a shades of pink and blue, with a cold air blowing through the streets.

Bulleta held a cigarette on her lips as she idly spaced out, admiring the sky and the quietness of the city at such an early time. It must’ve been near 5 or 6 AM and she had been on two missions that stretched the entire night, adding a new one for this morning. It’s not like she needed sleep, she could stay awake as long as she was standing on her two legs. She looked over to her newly made comrades, feeling a bit warmer on the inside once again as she mused over the fact that she was _actually_  socializing with other people with similar interests as her. _Is it really better this way?_ She thought to herself.

“We’re almost there.” Trish pointed out, seeing the airport on the horizon and the few planes that had just recently taken off.

“Are we there yet--” Deadpool asked but was interrupted by a small spark of lightning hitting the bridge of his nose. “YOWIE!”

“Don’t make me mess up that already messed up mug of yours even more.” The blonde demoness warned rather lazily.

“See I told ya, Wade.” Dante mocked and budged his elbow on the mercenary’s side.

“Hey, stop it.” Deadpool said and he pushed his elbow back into his comrade.

The half demon glared at his friend, “No, _you_ stop it.”

“You started it!” The mercenary cried out, then turned to their driver. “Mom, he’s touching me!”

“Dante stop touching Wade.” Trish said flatly after a heavy sigh, ignoring Lady’s poor attempt at holding back her giggling.

“Mom, Boy George cut off my hand!” Deadpool whined again, holding up his dismembered hand.

“The hell, you did that to yourself!” Dante accused and bumped his shoulder towards him.

“Dante don’t cut off Wade’s hand. Wade don’t get blood on the seat.” Trish ordered again.

 _Okay maybe it is better this way…_ Bulleta thought, unable to hold back an amused smile.

\---

The crew arrived to the airport, but carrying loads of visible weaponry had them restricted from even entering the airport itself. The five all simply stared from outside glass doors, unintentionally scaring anyone who saw what appeared to be five psychopaths armed to the teeth smiling from the other side of the door.

“This isn’t gonna work.” Dante said with a shake of his head. “Sooner or later someone’s gonna call the cops and we’ll all get arrested. Again.”

“Hey, call her phone or something!” Lady told her partner in crime. Trish nodded and began dialing a number on her phone.

“Ma’am? It’s us, we’re outside.” The demoness paused and bit her lip, “Right. Hurry because I see like seven cop cars pulling up near us.”

“Maybe we should’ve left our weapons in the car.” Lady wondered aloud, adjusting the strap to the rocket launcher she carried behind her.

“Yeah we could have, but Kalina Ann and Rebellion are twice the size of my trunk.” The demoness said with a frown.

"Too much junk in the trunk is never a bad thing." Deadpool added with a grin.

The doors slid open and out came a brunette woman in a black business suit, sunglasses, accompanied by multiple armed security. She walked up to Trish and removed her sunglasses, her older age being more evident without them. “You must be my bodyguards.” She addressed the Devil May Cry crew with a small smile. “You can call me P.L.” She introduced and held out her hand.

Trish shook the older woman’s hand and returned the smile, “Trish. These are my associates...” She said, looking back at the other four. “My personal partner, Lady. Two old friends, Dante and Deadpool, plus their new recruit Bulleta. They all are expert mercenaries and demon hunters. Your life is completely safe in our hands.”

“Thank you.” P.L. nodded, “With all the heat you kids are carrying, I feel safe already.” She began walking towards a limo that had recently pulled up, “Follow me, we’ll head towards the train station and take the train there.”

As the crew all piled into the limo, they hadn’t noticed a dark figure watching them from above the airport roof. The figure disappeared in a mist as soon as the limo began to drive off. P.L.’s other security all entered armored vehicles, one in front of the limo and one behind.

“As you may have already figured out, my family has been in danger from the demons ever since the Dark Ages.” P.L. began, with the Devil May Cry staff seated around her. “It was a price our bloodline had to pay, but I can argue that it had been worth it. We sacrificed our own safety for hundreds of other future generations. My ancestor who had fought off the devils of the past had all good intentions, but even after his passing the demons still threaten myself and thousands on this Earth. I am greatly pleased to know there are still people like you five that continue to carry on the fight to protect the ones who are unable to defend themselves.”

“Even if it is mostly for the money…” Deadpool whispered to Dante, who elbowed him in the gut.

“It’s our pleasure, ma’am.” Bulleta said with a nod.

P.L. looked over at the youngest member of the crew. “How old are you? I do not mean to be rude, but aren’t you far too young to be in this business?”

“16.” The blonde answered, “I am young, yeah, but like you, I have a bloodline of demon hunters as well. I take after my father, who had fought devils before.”

“Hmm, I see. I can clearly tell you are very professional and I can rely on your skill.” P.L. said and adjusted her shades. “And I apologize if I offended you in any way…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Bulleta reassured, “I understand.”

P.L. pressed a button on a small control panel above her and a small cooler opened up filled with ice and a fancy wine bottle. “Anyone care for a drink?” She asked, fetching herself a small glass.

“I’ll have one.” Trish answered, sitting up properly to reach for her own glass.

“Yes, help yourselves everyone.” P.L. gestured to the others, “And if you don’t fancy alcohol…” She pressed another button and a second cooler opened, this time filled with cold soda and water.

Everyone had helped themselves to their own beverage, Trish and Lady with wine, Dante and Deadpool with beer, while Bulleta settled with a simple water bottle.

“So why are you yourself heading to your mansion?” Lady asked. “Wouldn’t it be safer to stay back where you originally were?”

“Sadly no.” P.L. answered, “My last safe area had been compromised, it seems the devils continue to grow stronger and stronger. But thankfully the mansion we are headed to had belonged to my great grandmother, who had cast an everlasting spell upon the household. It should protect me from the demons for a time, but I will not stay here for too long. Staying in one place for too long will attract much more of them and sooner or later the spell will be broken as well.” She took a small sip from her drink. “It will be back on the run for me once my trip is over.”

“That’s frickin’ stressful, lady!” Deadpool said. “Ain’t nobody gonna break your stride! You got-ta keep on moving~!”

“Mhm, exactly. My family had to deal with this for generations. I had gotten used to it though…” P.L. rubbed her fingers around her glass. “Perhaps one day, the world will be rid of the antagonistic devils… but that is just like wishing for all evil humans to cease existing. Simply impossible. But we do as we must.”

“Ma’am, we are approaching the train station. " The limo driver pointed out.

“Right.” P.L. returned to her more professional tone. “Tell the armored vehicle units to rendezvous with us at the mansion. Report everything, even if it is the mildest sign that we are being trailed.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The limo stopped and pulled up to the entrance of the train station, while the armored vehicles continued on down the road, taking a longer path towards the mansion. The station itself was placed in between mountains and a large clear lake that sparkled with the sun’s reflection. The guards opened the doors for P.L. and searched around vigilantly with their weapons at the ready. The Devil May Cry crew came out too and followed right behind their VIP.

The train was mostly empty, save for a few people who had woken up early to specifically catch their morning shifts. P.L. entered first and instructed her guards to take separate posts in specific parts of the train. Deadpool, Lady, and Bulleta sat in their own booths across from Dante, Trish and P.L.

“I like trains. They remind me of myself. Full, speeding, metal machines blowing steam and entering holes!” Deadpool joked aloud, garnering semi disgusted looks from Lady and Bulleta.

 

 

Choosing to not comment on the merc's random sayings, Lady rested her head on her hand as she looked at the younger devil huntress before her. “So, tell me ‘bout yourself, Red! You said your old man was a demon hunter too?”

Bulleta nodded in confirmation. “Trained me too. Taught me everything I know.” She explained with an empty smile.

“I remember when I had a dad.” Deadpool mused. “Good times!”

“Same.” Lady mumbled sarcastically, until something suddenly caught her attention. A shadow passed by their window and she cursed under her breath at the sight.

Bulleta looked out the window then back to the older devil huntress. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re being followed.” She stated and placed her sunglasses back on her face. “I’ll let P.L. know.”

The blonde demon huntress nodded and stood up from her seat, “Me and Wade will check it out.”

“Right. Try to keep it on the down low, I really don’t want a big ass freak out to happen in this train.” Lady said, checking her surroundings just in case. “I’ll meet up with you two after I tell her.”

They split up with Lady whispering to P.L. about the current situation at hand while Deadpool and Bulleta jogged down the aisles.

“I see. I’ll inform my guards, for now we must relocate seats” P.L. began. "The farthest carriage is where all the baggage goes and it should be the safest place for me. Shall we?”

“Right, let’s go.” Trish confirmed and escorted P.L. towards the back.

Lady retrieved Kalina Ann from the smaller baggage containers up top and pulled the strap over her shoulder, while Dante pulled Rebellion out from a guitar case. “Let’s see where the party’s at.” The half demon said with a smirk and went along with the devil huntress down the aisle.

\---

Bulleta opened up a hatch and climbed aboard the top of the train, with Deadpool following suite and closing the hatch as quietly as possible. The wind blew off the blonde’s hood and she struggled to keep the hood tucked in on her head but continued to fail. “You see anything, Wade?” She asked after giving up in her attempts. 

The Merc with the Mouth looked around him with a squint. “I ain’t found shit! Maybe it's this wind that's getting in my fucking eyes!"

Unholstering her Uzi, Bulleta pulled the bolt back and readied herself as she continued to walk down the train. “Let’s split up. Scream if you’re dying.”

“Oh yeah, I mean I wouldn’t know what else to do if I’m dying honestly. Probably write a formal complaint to God.” Deadpool said and slung his M4 out, doing a recheck on the magazine before proceeding the opposite way of his comrade.

Bulleta witnessed a large shadow just out the corner of her eye scurrying off to the side. She rushed over and crouched down, looking over to see where the shadow had went. She gripped on the small railing of the train and leaned a bit further down to see anything else, all while another shadow formed up right behind her.

Within seconds, the devil huntress brandished her combat knife and swiped at the demon behind her. She had just managed to hold back a rusted demonic axe with her own blade. She was quick to use her other hand to aim her submachine gun and fire shots at the shadow in front of her, who phased away, leaving behind a puffy cloud of smoke.

The shadow emerged, appearing as a floating dark cloak, with only what appeared to be a beak visible from underneath its hood. A clawed, three fingered hand gripped on the cloak and the figure revealed itself. It was a ghost-like demon, with strips of exposed flesh barely covered by select pieces of rusted armor. Its lower half was completely missing, leaving behind a trail of black smoke as it floated about. Its armed were unnaturally long, but built, able to heave around the axe it carried. A demonic porcelain mask that resembled a cross between a raven and a goat’s skull hid the face of the demon. It was a hunter demon known as a Wraith. These Wraiths came in many different shapes and sizes, armed with multiple weapons to dispatch their prey, ranging from axes, swords, and many more.

Bulleta placed her knife back and opened fire at the Wraith again, which continued to teleport around her, dodging her bullets. “Stay the fuck still!” She exclaimed and prepared to reload, but saw the demon was now readying for an attack.

The Wraith struck down with its axe again, but Bulleta managed to sidestep out of harm’s way and get a hold of the axe herself. She used the demon’s momentum to throw it over her shoulder and slam it down onto the train’s roof. Brandishing her blade again, she quickly dismembered the Wraith’s clawed hands. As the demon shrieked in agony, Bulleta ended its life with a few bullets that tore right through its mask and continued walking.

She looked over to see Deadpool engaging in battle with two Wraiths that were armed with a claymore swords.

“Nice sword, nerds!” The Merc with the Mouth mocked as he managed to slice the head off of one of the Wraith demons with his katanas. He moved quickly to parry the other demon’s blade. “That is _so_ 1500’s! Did your great great great--" He quickly ducked to avoid a swipe, “-great great great great grandma get it for you?!”

The demon grew even more furious at the human’s mocking and thrusted its blade forward, only for Deadpool spin out of the way, and slash forward with his blades. The Wraith attempted to teleport away, only to teleport right into the barrel of a submachine gun.

Bulleta blew apart the Wraith’s skull with her Uzi and allowed its body to slump down, slowly turning into dust. “You’re welcome.” She said towards the mercenary.

“Ah, that was baby weight!” The mercenary dismissed with a hand gesture.

“What about him?” Bulleta nodded forward. “That weight big enough for you?”

Deadpool looked over to see three more Wraith’s materializing into view; two regular sized ones, one armed with two large knives and the other with a crossbow. The third one though, was much more larger than its two brethren and held a large, bloodied, demonic chainsaw in its hands. The larger Wraith revved up its chainsaw and roared at the two mercenaries.

“There's definitely a weight in my pants now.” The Merc with the Mouth said with no shame.

The chainsaw wielding Wraith phased in front of the two demon hunters and heaved its weapon up, ready to strike. The sound of metal on metal pierced the air as Lady had jumped in at the right moment, blocking the chainsaw with her rocket launcher’s massive bayonet. The devil huntress pulled her weapon back and fired a rocket at the Wraith, sending it tumbling further back.

The remaining Wraiths charged at her and she was quick to brandish her Skorpion submachine gun and open fire. The bullets tore right through the demons and even more reinforcements began to phase in around the three.

“Oh great.” Lady muttered and reloaded her submachine gun. 

“Just like the underground caverns at Afghanistan, right?” The Merc with the Mouth chuckled as he reloaded his M4 carbine.

“Yep!” The raven haired devil huntress agreed, switching to her Desert Eagle handgun to fire off a few head shots at any Wraith that got close. “Except this time you aren’t on the floor bawling your eyes out because you accidentally let a incendiary grenade go off on your crotch!”

Deadpool visibly cringed at the memory. "Oh yeah, when my hot dog literally became a frickin' hot dog with chili-cheese topping!"

Bulleta jabbed her combat knife into the neck of a Wraith and emptied her Uzi into its chest. She kicked away the corpse, pulled out her handgun and took down more a few Wraiths with well placed head shots. “Wraiths, huh? They must be after P.L.!”

“They definitely are!” Lady answered, barely backing away from a blade that swiped near her throat. She retaliated by firing her Skorpion right into a Wraith’s neck, then swinging her leg right around to kick the demon’s head clean off.

“Jeez, these chumps really want that old lady bad! Can't say I blame 'em, I mean have you seen Bea Arthur?!” Deadpool cackled as he struck the butt of his carbine repeatedly against a Wraith’s mask. He opened fire upon the demon and pushed its dead body away. "But if they want her that bad, why are they focusing on us?”

The three looked over to see the largest Wraith tearing through the carriage with its chainsaw.

“Son of a bitch!” Lady cursed aloud. “They were distracting us!” She tore right through the Wraiths with Kalina Ann’s bayonet and ran towards the chainsaw wielding demon.

As the Wraith finally cut through the carriage, it was met with a pair of silver and black pistols aiming right at it. The demon’s head blew apart and its limp corpse fell off the train, eventually fading into smoke. Dante jumped right through the hole and with Ebony and Ivory, fired right towards the Wraiths that surrounded Deadpool and Bulleta. The last of the Wraiths faded away into puffs of smoke, they were in the clear for the moment.

“Took you long enough, Dante.” Lady said, easing herself now that their attackers were all dealt with.

The half demon shrugged and spun his handguns before holstering them. “Busy taking care of the rest of them actually inside the train, while you three were out here clowning around.”

“Whatever.” Bulleta dismissed as she reloaded her Uzi. “We had it under control.”

“Yup, totally under control. And by control, I mean my ass. Literally it’s under my ass.” Deadpool said, pointing down at the struggling Wraith that he was sitting on top of.

Lady pressed the barrel of her Skorpion submachine gun at the Wraith’s head and began to question it. “Who the hell sent you?”

“ _I do not have words to spare for a filthy mortal…_ ” The Wraith responded in a low, distorted voice.

The raven haired devil huntress immediately smashed her fist hard against the demon’s porcelain mask, breaking it in half. The mask revealed the devil’s face, which much resembled the mask it wore.

“You may have no words to spare, but you definitely got teeth to spare.” Lady reminded and struck her fist right into the fanged jaws of the demon. It roared in pain as its coughed out its own blood and teeth. “Better talk while you still can. Maybe I’ll even let you keep the teeth, heard the tooth fairy even serves demons too!”

“ _Very well!_ ” The Wraith seethed in pain, its speech even more garbled due to its own blood beginning to clog up its throat. “ _We were sent by no one… we simply want revenge, for what that woman’s ancestors had done to us before!_ ”

Lady struck her fist to the demon again, earning her a slightly annoyed look from Dante. “Yo Lady, he already answered your question.”

“I know.” The devil huntress noted innocently with a shrug. “It’s just fun beating him up!”

“That’s the shit her ancestors did, not her.” Bulleta told the Wraith, “You got no right taking out your anger on someone who never even wronged you. You fucks are just looking for an excuse to torture someone.”

“Yup, maybe you guys shouldn’t have pillaged and burned all those villages before and maybe… _JUST_ maybe... her bad ass magician ancestor wouldn’t have kicked all your slimy asses back to Hell!” Deadpool mocked and rubbed his knuckles against the demon’s head, “Ain’t that right, bird brain?”

Dante knelt down to face the devil in the eyes, “How about this, you scum leave her alone, and maybe we won’t just kill _every_ single one of you that comes after her?”

“ _That will never happen… just as we speak, more of my brethren come this way._ ” the Wraith spoke out in between coughs.

The half demon clicked his tongue and stood back up, “Well then I guess we’re just gonna have to make sure none of you bastards ever see the light of day ever again.”

“Hey, I got a question,” Deadpool began. “What is up with you goons and the whole skinless design anyway? There's like _countless_ enemies like that! I know it looks scary and all, but doesn’t it hurt? Like dirt particles touching you? The hell do you guys do?! I feel like it'd be like emptying a box of salt on a tiny paper cut..."

“ _We feel no pai--URGH!_ ” The Wraith roared in agony as Lady grabbed its arm and snapped it.

The devil huntress grinned. “What was that about pain?”

“Come on, let’s get back to P.L. and Trish.” Dante said to the three. “We’re almost to the mansion and if we’re gonna see anymore of these punks up ahead we better be ready.”

“Right.” Bulleta agreed and she followed the half demon towards the hole made by the late chainsaw wielding Wraith.

The Merc with the Mouth stood up and stretched his legs a bit. “Finally! I just wanna get paid already, then get home and knock the fuck out!” Without looking, he pulled out his M1911 handgun and fired off a head shot at the Wraith below, finally killing it.

“Preach it, Wade.” Lady said as she adjusted Kalina Ann's strap on her shoulder.

\---

The train went into a halt and the passengers all made their way out. The Devil May Cry crew was first out, checking the area with diligence. P.L. was then escorted out with her security surrounding her as they allowed her into another limousine. The Devil May Cry staff boarded onto the limo as well and the remaining security stayed back on watch.

“Koopa Kids, this is the Scorpion and we have made it onto the Frog, report your status.” The limo driver radioed to the other security personnel. 

 _“Koopa Kids here, entering South street and will merge in on West.”_  A voice on the radio informed.

“Understood. We’ll shake hands and head towards the drop point.” The driver started up the vehicle and began to drive. “Let’s make this a quick one, Kids, our Bullies already had contact with the Geeks.”

The armored vehicle unit, call sign the Koopa Kids, soon met back up with the limo and took their place on both ends of the vehicle. A few guards got out of one of the armored vehicles and went into the limousine for added protection for P.L. After a small exchange, the vehicles resumed their path towards the mansion, which was not too far off.

Dante impatiently tapped his index finger on the trigger guard of Ebony, his icy blue eyes stared right out the window for any sign of the Wraiths. Lady constantly checked on her Skorpion’s ammo to keep her occupied while awaiting a much expected attack.

Trish hummed to herself, her hands gripping her twin handguns, Luce and Ombre. Her attention perked up and she looked over to Dante, who noticed the specific scent as well. “Let’s get to work.” She said and the others shifted to ready themselves. Right behind them was another squadron of Wraiths materializing into view from black smoke.

“ _There!_ ” The commanding Wraith pointed towards the limo, “ _The vehicle in the middle houses our target! I want her head on the end of my spear!_ ”

The rest of the Wraiths all let out a ferocious roar and sped towards the vehicles. The limo driver, Scorpion, noticed the demons approaching and held up his radio once more. “Geeks on our tail! Koopa Kid 02, they’re climbing on top of you!”

 _“They’re already in!”_  A voice screamed from the radio’s end, followed by gunshots and screeching of bladed weapons.

“Shit, we gotta help them out!” Bulleta said as she prepared to open the limo’s door to provide the guards with covering fire.

“Don’t.” P.L. ordered, “They have their jobs and you have yours. Scorpion, get them off your tail. Koopa Kid 01, head towards the mansion at top speed and set the preparations.”

_“Yes ma’am!”_

The Wraiths tore apart Koopa Kid 02 and sent it flying off the hill and into the sea. “ _Into the vehicle!_ ” The demons charged towards the limousine and tore apart the top. What they were met with was not what they had expected. P.L. was not at all in the limousine, but only the barrels of multiple weapons. The Devil May Cry staff sprung out from cover and opened fire at the surprised demons, tearing them all apart in seconds.

“Enjoy this firework show, motherfuckers!” Lady set down Kalina Ann and fired out multiple mini-rockets that homed onto any straggling devils and blew them in bits.

Deadpool fired wildly at the Wraiths that circled around them, “Zombie goasts, leave this place!” He exclaimed and switched to his dual M1911 handguns to continue the defense.

“ _The girl! She is not there!_ ” A Wraith cried out towards its commander. The demon was soon shocked by a bolt of lighting that reduced the demon to nothing but a pile of dust.

Trish smirked and blew away the smoke from her palm, “Shocking, isn’t it?”

The commanding Wraith roared in fury. “ _They fooled us! Go after the vehicle ahead!_ ” He ordered and charged right towards the blonde demoness.

“Bad move!” Trish called as she pulled out Luce and planted a bullet right in-between the eyes of the commanding Wraith.

A few Wraiths split off from the group and flew towards where Koopa Kid 01 was heading, which caught the attention of Scorpion. “Koopa Kid 01! Geeks heading towards your position!” He alerted them, and ducked down to avoid a Wraith who had attacked him with a few arrows.

Bulleta turned around and aimed down her sights, taking out the demon that had targeted the driver with a single head shot. The driver thanked the blonde devil huntress and sped up the vehicle to catch up with P.L.

As the crew continued to make quick work of the demons, P.L. sat within Koopa Kid 01 with the remaining security as they closed in on her mansion. “Geeks on our tail now, ma’am.” A guard informed P.L.

“Gunner, take care of them!” She ordered towards the guard up top.

The guard manned a heavy machine gun and fired at the Wraiths closing in on them, only managing to take out a few, the rest constantly teleporting out of her line of fire. “Shit! They’re too fast!” She called out to P.L.

“Then we’re going to have to outrun them.” P.L. said, looking over to the driver. “Step on it!” Koopa Kid 01 sped down the streets, with the mansion being in full view now.

The limousine was just right behind the armored vehicle and the crew spotted the Wraiths closing in on Koopa Kid 01. The Devil May Cry crew still continued to fight off the demons that attacked from all angles. Lady held up Kalina Ann over her shoulder and fired another burst of mini homing rockets that blasted the Wraiths out of the air. “You’re clear on your end, P.L.!” She informed her, then returning her attention onto the devils that surrounded them.

The armored vehicle continued speeding towards the mansion, heading towards the gate. “Ma’am! Gates not open!” The driver hastily noted.

“Do you want to stop and put a coin in?!” P.L. barked at her driver. “Keep driving!”

Koopa Kid 01 tore right through the gates and came into a screeching halt as it pulled up right in front of the mansion. The guards piled out and shielded P.L. with their bodies as they opened fire at the Wraiths that flew around them. The gunner of the armored vehicle let out a slew of curse words as she was pulled out of her seat by the demons.

The gunner was saved just in time as Bulleta fired upon the Wraith the grabbed her. The guard fell back down and luckily the devil huntress then jumped up and caught the gunner in her arms, both hitting the floor hard.

“Thanks for that, kid.” The gunner nodded as she held onto the blonde for support for a moment, until she stabilized herself enough to pull out her side arm to join the fire fight.

Dante hopped out of the limousine, followed by the rest of the Devil May Cry crew, opening fire at the Wraiths that circled around them like vultures.

“P.L.! Into the mansion!” Trish called out, her attention entirely on the demons around her. “We’ve got this covered!”

The older woman nodded and was escorted into the mansion by two guards, while the rest continued the fight outside.

Deadpool pulled the pin off a grenade and tossed it into the air, then shot the explosive with his handgun, creating an explosion that caught a couple Wraiths in its fiery blast. “Oh dey're gonne have te glue ye back togetha - IN HELL!” He mocked in a Scottish accent.

A Wraith swung its dual blades right at Dante, who parried it with Rebellion. “You call those tooth picks of yours swords?” He laughed and thrusted his broadsword right into the skull of the demon, leaving its body limp. “Catch this, punks!” He called out and threw the corpse towards the other Wraiths and sent them crashing into one another.

Trish quickly dodged shots from two Wraiths that fired their crossbows in her direction. Her fists began to crackle with lighting and she swung towards the two devils, blowing their heads completely apart. Spinning right around the floor, the demoness fired off the lighting into another group of Wraiths, quickly reducing them into pure ashes.

The fight continued on for a few more minutes, with the combined efforts of the Devil May Cry crew and P.L.’s security force making quick work of the Wraiths until there was nothing left but piles of ashes and rotting corpses.

\---

P.L. entered the foyer of the mansion with her two guards. She took a moment to look back at the fighting outside, but continued on. “Ma’am, we have to get you within the safe room.” A guard said to her.

“Not needed, the spell casted upon the walls of this mansion are enough to hold back the devils in their pure form…” She assured her guard. “But just in case--” She turned to see her guard holding onto his throat, blood spurting from it. Soon enough the guard fell to the floor and behind him was the second guard that accompanied P.L., a bloody knife in his hands. “What the hell did you just do!?”

“ _What needed to be done, ‘ma’am,’_ ” The guard mocked in a deep, distorted voice. This second guard fell limp to the floor as a Wraith emerged from it, eyes glowing deep red towards P.L.

“Clever…” She began, still standing her ground. “Hiding within a mortal’s body so you could bypass the spell.”

“ _Flattery shall get you nowhere…_ ” The Wraith raised its clawed hands, “ _Only death awaits you!_ ”

Lady kicked open the mansion’s double doors and aimed her Skorpion submachine gun at the demon. “Stop right there!” She warned, the Wraith had P.L. in a choke hold.

“ _You are far too late, hunters…_ ” The demon growled towards them.

Deadpool, Bulleta, Trish, Dante and the remaining security guards piled in and aimed their weapons at the demon that held P.L. captive.

“ _Drop your arms!_ ” The Wraith shouted in anger. “ _Too many of my own have died today by those weapons… now you shall watch as your precious ‘P.L.’ will be ripped apart!_ ”

There was near utter silence, until one security guard spoke up. “Ma’am… the Hummingbird has made it to the Cage.”

“Ah, perfect.” P.L. nodded, suddenly easing herself within the grip of the demon. 

“ _What?_ ” The Wraith questioned, “ _What is the meaning of this?!_ ”

P.L. simply smirked, “This.” She let out a battle cry as she drove her elbow into the gut of the Wraith, causing it to wrench in pain. The woman spun right round and delivered a flaming roundhouse kick with onto the head of the demon, sending it crashing onto the floor. As she walked towards the downed demon, her gloved hands balled up into fists, and lighting began to crackle from them.

Deadpool, Dante and Bulleta could only watch with surprised but incredibly impressed expressions.

“ _W-What… who are you?!_ ” The Wraith asked, “ _You are not the girl!_ ”

P.L. coughed out a fake laugh, “Never thought it was that easy to fool a demon.” She said with a click of her tongue. Her electrified gloves crackled more and she held onto the Wraith’s neck, electrocuting it until its body went limp.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold these nuts!” The Merc with the Mouth cried out. “What in the ass just happened?!”

“Yeah, seriously.” Bulleta agreed, still very confused at what happened. “I didn’t know a 50 year old lady could kick ass like that… I hope I get to be like that too.”

Lady looked at the three with a raised eyebrow, “What? You guys didn’t know?”

“Didn’t know what…?” Dante asked carefully, his eyes slowly darting back and forth at the devil huntress to P.L.

“Show ‘em, _‘P.L.’_ ” Trish said towards the older woman, then she smirked, “Or should I say, Viper?”

P.L. smiled and removed her sunglasses, then pressed onto the side of her head, her face began to ‘glitch’ out. She held her fingers upon her face, removing what appeared to a see through grid that covered the face. The woman removed the hair, that had been shown to be a wig, which allowed much longer red hair to flow out. A much younger woman was under the disguise all along, she had darker skin and a much more serious look upon her face. Digging within her jacket, she pulled out a pair of yellow aviators and set it on her face.

“Crimson Viper, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” The woman introduced herself with a nod. She had been recruited by Director Nick Fury himself a short time after the battle with Galactus and since then had been working with S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division)

“No way!” Deadpool exclaimed excitedly, “Who could’ve known that the GILF was actually a MILF!” This had earned him a elbow struck to his ribs from Bulleta.

“Wait, wait, wait…” Dante held up his hands, trying to make sense of things. He looked over to Trish and Lady, “You guys knew all along P.L. was C. Viper? Why the hell didn’t you tell us?”

Lady shrugged innocently. “You didn’t ask!”

“Let me explain things...” C. Viper began, “I took upon the name ‘P.L.’, or rather, Patty Lowell, so the demons could chase after me instead of the young lady herself.”

“Patty?” The white haired half demon repeated, remembering the young girl he had saved all those years ago. “No wonder this all seemed familiar…” He said to himself, then looked back at C. Viper. “But why are you helping her?”

“Let’s just say it was both my job and a personal favor.” The red haired woman explained further. “She is good friends with my own daughter after all, but personal feelings aside, a section of us at S.H.I.E.L.D. have been working on protecting anyone who is in danger of any supernatural menace.” She looked over at the two dead security guards and her expression darkened, “It's a dangerous job, we lose a lot of good men and women… but it's for the greater good.”

“So wait, where’s Patty right now?” Dante asked, sounding concerned now that the safety of his old friend had been brought up.

C. Viper looked over at the half demon. “Closer than you know. Now, let’s finish this up.” She spoke, resuming her professional style. “We’ll clean things up from here. You’ll all receive your pay shortly. Now get outta here, your job here is done.” She nodded towards the group and began issuing orders to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents around her.

“Hold on, Maya, can you do us one more favor?” Trish asked, putting on her biggest smile.

Without even looking back at them, C. Viper sighed and held up a radio to her ear. “Someone give Trish, Lady and friends a ride back to their place.”

“Thank you, Maya~!” Lady cheered, hugging the red headed woman from the back, who broke free quickly.

“No hugging while I’m at work.” C. Viper told her in a strict tone, but her friends saw right through it. “We’ll meet up soon. Now get going.” She said in a much softer voice for once.

\---

A S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet landed right in front of the Devil May Cry office, its hatch opening and allowing the crew to get off. They watched as the jet lifted off again and flew off.

“I totally wish we had one of our own jets! Like, actually own it, because I tried stealing one before and got my butt promptly kicked into next Sunday by Iron Man!” Deadpool spoke as he watched the Quinjet fly off until it was out of view.

“Jeez, what a fuckin’ day…” Bulleta said and pushed against her back, feeling it pop a bit. “I’m ready for bed.”

“Ditto.” Trish agreed, stepping up the stairs of the office. “Let’s get some shut eye, you all deserved it.” She stopped in place, noticing the doors were actually back in place.

Dante tilted his head to see past the blonde demoness, equally as confused as her seeing his doors were fixed. “The hell? Another one of your favors from Viper, Trish?” He asked, gripping his hand on the doorknob.

“Trust me, she likes us but she’d never spare manpower to clean up after you losers.” Lady pointed out with a chuckle as they went inside the office.

A scream was heard from within the office, but it was not Trish, Deadpool, or Lady, but from Dante.

“WHAT THE _HELL_ HAPPENED TO MY OFFICE?!”

Everything was completely clean, the wooden floorboards were shining and it smelled of fresh mint in the air. The previously stained, almost misty windows, were brand new and allowed sunlight into the office. The old, brown, tattered couch was replaced with a brand new black leather couch with an accompanying smaller side couch on the wall. The jukebox was repaired and was playing a soft melody, even the pool table and TV were replaced with updated versions. And at the center of it all, was a teenage girl with cream colored hair, dressed in a white summer dress with black accents.

“Surprise!” Patty Lowell beamed happily, throwing her hands up in the air at the crew.

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: maya, the crimson viper. a secret agent from the street fighter series. as well as another main character, patty lowell, from the devil may cry anime.


	5. Happy Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The exhausted group returns to the Devil May Cry, only to find yet another familiar face waiting for them. Patty Lowell happily greets them all and excitedly returns to stay with her long time protector and older brother figure, Dante.

“Surprise!”

Dante had a face of pure shock as he looked about his repaired and cleaned office. “My baby…”

“Hi guys!” Patty ran over to the crew like an excited puppy.

“My favorite princess!” cheered Lady as she embraced the younger girl.

“I missed you so much, Lady!” the flaxen haired girl said and went over to hug Trish next. “You too, Trish!”

The blonde demoness smiled and rubbed the girl’s head, “Aww, how could I ever forget you?”

“The spilled strawberry sundae spot I left is gone…” whispered Dante, he was on all fours and staring intently at the clean floorboards.

“Uncle Wade!” Patty sprung up to wrap her arms around the mercenary’s waist.

“Krabby Patty!” Deadpool laughed and spun her around, “Finally, someone else who bothers cleaning around here! And don’t mind David Bowie over there, we love what you did with the place!”

“Right?!” chimed in Lady, who then took a long inhale and exhale. “I can actually breathe the air in this place and not taste various assortments of fast foods in my mouth!”

“Ahh, thank you, thank you!” Patty beamed and cupped her hands together.

Dante stood up and dusted his coat off, looking right at the younger girl. “Patty, what are you doing here? Weren’t you staying with your mom?”

“Basically the mission we just did was all to throw the demons off Patty’s trail.” Trish explained. “Demons have been threatening her and her mom for some time, until me and Lady got a wind of it. Thankfully the demons don’t really _know_ what Patty looks like, so this gave us an idea to have someone use her name for a bit so they could track her instead. Maya volunteered personally to be the bait and with her S.H.I.E.L.D. support, plus all of us, just made the plan work flawlessly.”

“Huh. Pretty good.” The white haired half demon responded casually, looking back at the younger girl. “So I guess you’re staying with us too then?”

“Mhm, if that’s okay?” nodded Patty, still smiling.

Dante scoffed and rubbed the girl’s head a bit, “You kiddin’ me? You’re always welcome here.” He looked around the office once more with a faltered smirk. “Just, uh, tell me ahead of time when you’re gonna redecorate again.”

Lady and Deadpool shared a small laugh with each other, both had noticed Bulleta was staring at Patty the whole time. It was almost like she was in a trance, until Lady decided to nudge the blonde a bit to break her out. “What’re you standing around for? Go introduce yourself!” The raven haired devil huntress whispered to her.

“Huh? O-Oh, what?” stammered Bulleta, looking back at Lady, then to Patty, who now had her attention as well. “I…” she cleared her throat, feeling her body go hot. "Call me K-, uh, Bulleta.” She managed to stutter out, extending her hand towards the other girl.

“Ah, I’m Patty.” The flaxen haired girl introduced and softly shook the other girl’s hand. After the shake, she opened her palm and realized it was now stained in blood and dirt.

Bulleta went wide eyed and had completely forgotten she was dirtied up from the mission. She began to apologize repeatedly as she tried wiping Patty’s hand with the edge of her jacket.

“Smooth!” snickered Deadpool, which earned him a empty ammo magazine being thrown at his direction from Bulleta, striking him in the nose. “OWW!”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Patty assured the blonde with a soft smile. “Follow me, we can wash up at the sink!”

“I…” Bulleta was near speechless and gulped. “Okay. Alright. Yes. Yeah. Alright. Let’s go.”

Lady was holding back her laughter as she nudged Dante, who crossed his arms and smiled at the sight. Deadpool joined in as well, holding his injured nose and hanging onto the half demon’s shoulder for support.

Trish had a smile on her lips as well and continued to admire the cleaned office. “Hey, Patty, how’d you manage to clean up the office so fast anyway?” She asked.

“Hm?” Patty looked back towards the older woman, “Oh I had some help!” she turned towards the kitchen and called out for two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They were dressed in full battle gear, but the odd thing was both donned an apron outside of their armor.

“Everyone, this is Fox and Hound!” Patty introduced the agents. “They helped me clean up this place!”

**_An hour ago…_ **

Patty stepped right through the door frame of the office, looking about the horrible condition of the office. “That Dante can never keep this place in shape!” She pouted, picking up a dusty broom that was resting in the corner.

The two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Fox and Hound, climbed up the stairs and stood right behind the girl. “Ma’am, the area is clear. All the Geeks took the bait.” Informed Fox, who removed her gasmask and allowed her curly shoulder length black hair to run free, wiping the sweat from her tanned face.

“Ah…” Patty didn’t sound too sure on how to feel knowing other people were risking their own lives just for her safety. “I hope they all make it through.”

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” Hound assured the young girl. “Those guys are some of the best soldiers I’ve ever worked with.” he took off his gasmask as well and revealed a fair skinned man with his dirty blonde hair in a bun.

“I’m worrying over nothing then? I see...”

Fox set down her gasmask on the pool table, then turned her attention to the flaxen haired girl. “What are your orders?”

A smile grew on Patty’s lips as she found a discarded mop hidden inside a closet. She walked up to the two soldiers with the broom and the mop in hand and with a large smile, “Let’s clean this place up first! I wanna give them all a happy welcome once they get here!”

**_Now..._ **

“And that’s how we made this haunted house into something more friendly!” Patty finished explaining, then looked over at the kitchen. “And lunch is finished, come on, let’s all eat!”

“You even made us lunch too, huh?” Dante smirked, reaching for a seat for himself. “Now you’re just being too nice--” his hand was slapped away by Patty and he looked at her confusion.

“Ah, ah! No eating until all of you washed up first!” She scolded, then suddenly resumed her innocent smile. “Pretty please?”

The half demon exhaled and looked back at the others. “Eh, who can say no to you kiddo?” He said with a smirk and went towards the bathroom.

“NO I WANNA TRY OUT THE NEW SINK FIRST!” Deadpool exclaimed as he ran past the white haired devil hunter, both starting to wrestle their way to their destination. Bulleta casually side stepped to allow them through, having just finished washing up herself. Trish and Lady took their chances on the kitchen’s sink instead, not wanting to deal with the two’s antics.

“You two can’t stay for lunch...?” Patty sadly asked the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who were both at the door getting ready to leave. 

“Wish we could, ma’am...” Fox began. “But since your people got back, it means we gotta meet up again with our unit too. Help out with the clean up and everything.”

Hound put his gasmask on his face and placed his hand on Patty’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll visit one of these days on our days off. For now, just enjoy your time with your friends.”

The flaxen haired girl let out a short sigh. “Okay…” She looked back up and found her smile once more, “I hope you two come again soon!”

“We will!” Fox said and wore her gasmask over her face. “Take care now, ma’am!”

“You two stay safe!” Patty waved the two soldiers off as they left the building and towards a jeep. She closed the door and returned to the rest of the Devil May Cry crew, all finally seated around the table.

The crew all ate hearty with a well cooked meal of beef stew, with carrots, potatoes, all in a tasty broth. The devil hunters recounted their recent missions to Patty; Deadpool and Lady notably making it much more overblown than it really had been. Dante simply sat back and shook his head with a smile on how ridiculous they were making each battle they got in sound.

“This blood on my chest?” The Merc with the Mouth snickered as he pointed down at the large blood stain. “I know for sure it ain’t _my_ blood! I didn't even know things could have that much blood!”

“Oh whatever!” Lady interrupted with a scoffed. “Did nobody see me practically make fireworks out there with demon body parts!?”

Bulleta already was on her second plate, having no time to spare for tall tales. Though she did have a slight urge to tell her side of the mission, to see if it’d impress Patty in any way. Her oceanic eyes darted up at the flaxen haired girl every occasion whenever she wasn’t busy stuffing her mouth with food.

“Patty, the meal was delicious.” complimented Trish, having just finished her plate. “If there was one thing I missed about the old times we all spent together, it was definitely your cooking.”

“Aw, thank you! that means a lot Trish!” The younger girl thanked in response.

Dante took a sip from his strawberry milkshake and nodded in agreement. “Beats whatever the hell Wade manages to make in the kitchen by a long shot. I _swear_ that bowl of noodles was staring right back at me.”

“Atleast I try to cook!” The mercenary retorted. “All you do is waste our money on stupid strawberry sundaes and pizzas!”

“You can’t waste money that you don’t have, guys.” Lady pointed out with a cheeky smirk.

Deadpool made a slight shrieking noise at the devil huntress' comment, even going as far as to drop his own glass on the ground to create a dramatic noise. Dante shot him glare, then licked his tongue and shook his head. “Now that’s just a low blow, Lady...”

Eventually everyone had finished their meals and despite it being the middle of the day, the crew were looking forward to rest after the recent missions. Deadpool had already fallen fast asleep on the couch, he was sprawled on it and dressed in a pink bathrobe plus his mask. After tossing his red coat aside, Dante moved his friend’s feet back up on the couch’s armrest and jumped over to the next couch.

“Trish, Lady, you two can take my room for now. Patty you can have the extra room. ” The half demon told the girls as he relaxed back. “If anyone needs anything, bother someone else instead. I’m heading over to dream land.”

Trish held her hands on her hips, looking back at the white haired devil hunter. “You sure? It won’t matter to us if we sleep down here. Besides, it’s _your_ room.”

“Dude, whatever, let’s just go!” Lady ushered before letting out a long winded yawn. “If you’re not gonna take it, guess it’s mine then!” She teased as she began heading upstairs without Trish.

The blonde demoness let out a sigh and eventually followed her partner in crime upstairs.

“Guess I’m stayin’ down here too.” Bulleta mused as she threw off her sleeveless hoodie to the side.

“Do whatever you want, Red.” Dante mumbled in response, almost half asleep now.

The young demon huntress was just about to do so until she noticed Patty taking a couple suitcases upstairs. “Oh, lemme help you with that.” She offered while walking over to lift up more of the baggage.

“Thank you so much.” Patty thanked, looking back at the other girl, still trying to maintain a smile despite being exhausted.

“Y-Yeah, no problem.” Bulleta nodded with a slight blush, looking back down at the steps so Patty was not able to see it.

The two girls reached the guest room, with Patty going over to take a seat on the bed after setting aside her luggage. Bulleta set up the rest in the corner of the room and stretched her arms, then looked back at the other girl. “Well, um... goodnight.”

“Do you want to sleep here instead?” The flaxen haired girl asked as she rubbed her eyes. She let out a small giggle when she noticed the other girl blush. “If you’re a light sleeper, you won’t catch a second of shut eye down there with the boys.”

Bulleta poked her head out of the room to look downstairs, seeing both Dante and Deadpool snoring loud enough to break glass. She was indeed a light sleeper and she knew she would be wide awake down there.

“I won’t cause any noise.” Patty stated as she began to change into more comfortable clothes while the other girl was looking outside. “When I’m asleep, you won’t even know I’m there.”

“Uh, I guess, I’ll stay here then...” Bulleta said after some thought. “But you can have the bed, I’ll just take the floor.”

Patty slipped into a small shirt and looked up at the blonde girl, “Are you sure?” She asked, holding up a large blanket.

The devil huntress nodded and took the blanket, “I’ve slept on much worse, thank you.” She assured with a small smile.

“Goodnight, then.” The flaxen haired girl said softly after she laid down on the bed.

“You too... goodnight.”

That night, despite the silence, Bulleta still wasn’t able to fall asleep at first. Her oceanic eyes stared at the ceiling and occasionally looked over to Patty, who had already fallen asleep. All this battle hardened demon huntress could do was cover her blushing face and wide smile with her blanket.

\---

The next morning, Dante’s icy blue eyes slowly opened up, but quickly was covered by his hand to protect them from the sunlight. His nose caught the strong scent of coffee and he raised his body up, still shielding his sensitive eyes from the brightness.

“You finally up?” A familiar man’s voice asked. “Must’ve been some job, huh Dante?”

“Morrison?” Dante asked, after recognizing the voice and seeing the man himself.

Standing right by the pool table, with a cup of coffee placed on the edge, was an older blonde man dressed in an ironed dress white shirt, a purple vest, black pants and perfectly shined shoes. This was Morrison, an old friend of Dante who used to work with him as an informant about demon hunting jobs.  One of the notable missions he brought in for the devil hunter was to protect Patty from demons, back then she was simply a girl he had the burden of escorting, but now Dante recognizes Patty as one of his closest friends.

“What are you doing here?” The half demon asked as he rubbed his eyes.

“Heard you were in debt. Again.” Morrison answered with a grin. “So I thought I’d swing on by with a couple jobs that might interest you. Or rather, make sure you don’t drown in bills.”

Dante rolled his ice blue eyes and got up to stretch his body. “I’m doing fine. Or rather...” He trailed off and looked over at his partner in crime, Deadpool, who was still snoring on the other couch. “We're doing fine.” He finished with a mild grin.

“Ah, I bet.” The informant said as he readied a cue stick for a shot. “I’m impressed you finally started expanding your staff. Working alone isn’t always fun you know?”

“Tch, as peaceful as quiet is, it got boring real quick.” The half demon admitted as he retrieved himself a plastic box of strawberries from the fridge. “Besides, ever since we barely managed to fight off that colossal purple bastard who tried to eat the planet, I decided a little help wouldn’t hurt around here.”

Morrison nodded and walked around the table, sipping idly on his mug of coffee. “Things have been strange around here ever since that… event. Luckily you demon hunters have been getting extra busy since then.”

“You got that right. Who knew Wade's world had so many demons that could use a bullet in the head.” Dante answered with a smirk before taking a bite into a strawberry. “Anyway, what’s the new job you got for us today?”

“Just a tiny little artifact that has been garnering some big attention. It’s at the Museum of Otherworldly Wonders.” The blonde man answered after another sip of coffee. “Someone who’s going by ‘Wreeks’ has requested the retrieval of it and the reward is mighty large for something as small as a little museum decoration.”

“‘Wreeks,’ huh?” Dante scoffed. “Sure reeks alright. Reeks of bullshit.”

Morrison chuckled and set the cue stick aside. “It could be something worth looking into, knowing this Wreeks character wants it bad.” He spoke as he walked towards Dante, digging in his pocket for something. “I got a picture of the artifact too from them, but that’s about all the info I got. I don’t trust this as much as you, so I suggest you do some research on whatever this is.”

The half demon was handed a photo of a circular shaped stone with a single black emerald within the center. There were lines circling across the stone that continued on until it had reached the middle.

“Doesn’t look important.” Dante dismissed and set the photo down on the table, returning to eating strawberries.

“Appearances can be deceiving, Dante.” Morrison reminded with a brow raised. “But if it doesn’t seem all that important, why does this Wreeks want it so bad? They even put up a price of $1,000,000 for the item.”

The half demon nearly choked on his strawberry upon hearing the price. “$1,000,000?! They must be insane to fork over all that cash for a little rotten piece of jewelry.” 

“So, what do you say?” The informant asked further. “It’s easy money. But like I said, I want you to take this with caution. A few of you do some research while another set of you go out to retrieve it.”

“Fine, fine, we'll do it.” Dante answered with a heavy sigh. “Breaking into a museum to steal a little rusty disk doesn’t sound too hard. I’ll go over the plans with the rest of them after they all wake up.”

Eventually everyone else was up and lounging around the office. Lady and Bulleta were cleaning and maintaining their weapons while actively discussing a variety of guns and their respective demon hunting experiences. Patty and Deadpool were in the kitchen fixing up breakfast for the team, while Dante, Trish and Morrison discussed things over cups of coffee.

“Yes, it was Patty’s mother that organized the entire operation your team had just went on,” Morrison began, “And don’t worry, she’s under the care of S.H.I.E.L.D. right now and personally sent Patty to you. She knew you’d keep Patty safe no matter what.”

“Back to babysitting again, am I?” Dante asked with a grin. 

Trish held up the photo of the artifact in front of her, examining it closely. “Such a small thing causing this much attention huh?”

Morrison nodded, “There’s a lot of people after this as well. Seems like that reward Wreeks put up has been spread far and wide.”

“Who do you expect we might run into it?” The demoness asked curiously.

“Hopefully nobody too much to deal with.” The informant said, unsure. “But I’m confident enough in you all that you’ll take care of this quick and with little to no damages.”

Dante scoffed, knowing very well every time they attempted to do as little damage as possible, they end up doing the complete opposite. “Right. When does anything ever go our way?”

“I say we send in Lady, Wade, and Bulleta to get the artifact.” Trish suggested. “I’m assuming this thing is demonic in origin and the presence of us could cause some problems.”

“You got a point.” The half demon lazily agreed. “So I guess you want me on your little book club team then?”

Trish nodded. "Let’s hit the library downtown. It’s not too far from the museum, so if the others end up needing back up, we’re right down the alley.”

“I’ll come along too.” Morrison said as he stood up. “Whatever this thing is and why it’s garnering so much attention, well I’d like to know just as much as you all.”

“We should bring Patty along too.” The demoness added. “I’d feel safer knowing she’s with us then by herself here.”

The white haired half demon shrugged and walked off. “Do whatever you want. I’m gonna take a shower before we go.”

On the floor, the two human demon huntresses sat on opposite ends of a towel that pieces of their disassembled submachine guns laid about. “... Right?” Lady finished, catching the blonde’s attention again. 

“Huh? Oh yeah.” Bulleta nodded and shook her head, “Sorry, I was kinda…”

The raven haired devil huntress had a sly smirk. “Distracted? I know.” She looked over to where Bulleta’s attention was at, Patty. “You should take her out after this mission.”

“I… I don’t know...”

Lady put down the separated handle of her Skorpion submachine gun and rested her head on her hand. “Come on dude, it’s not that hard!”

Bulleta was trying to focus on cleaning the barrel of her Uzi, “No, it’s just… I don’t know if she… _goes that way,_ you know?”

“Ahh, right...” The older demon huntress hummed. “Buuuut, you never know right? Just take her out on a little walk to the park! Or a coffee date… or a movie! Little shit like that. Get to know each other more! Then maybe if you see the connection and the signs, that’s when you go for the kill!”

“Yeah I guess you’re right... I’ll think it over.” The blonde said quietly, “Now can we get back to guns, please?”

Lady nodded and returned reassembling her submachine gun. “More comfortable with guns than lovey dovey shit, right? I feel it.”

“Mhm.”

After breakfast and showers, the Devil May Cry staff began their preparations while going over the plan once more. Trish was dressed in all black jeans, long boots, and a twill long coat (which her handguns Luce and Ombra were hidden within. “Me, Dante, Morrison and Patty will head on over to the library and dig up whatever we can on this thing,” She explained as she fasted a messenger bag over her person. “Lady and Bulleta, you’ll be in the museum, with Wade taking a scouting position on a rooftop near the museum.”

Dante was donned in fingerless gloves, dark red jeans, black boots, and a dark red vest over a black dress shirt. “We’ll keep you guys updated on what we find and you guys do the same." He added as he tucked himself in a new red coat. “Hopefully this’ll be a quick and easy job.”

“What’s the chance we’ll run into others after the target too?” Bulleta asked, she was dressed in black jeans, white sneakers, fingerless gloves, a burgundy denim vest over a grey hoodie and a black beanie on her head with her blonde bangs being brushed back into it. She only had her combat knife, ammunition and her M9 Beretta tucked within her vest, not wanting to carry too much weaponry to cause attention.

“We’ll be in broad daylight so I doubt anyone’s gonna come in waving a gun.” Lady dismissed mildly. Like Bulleta, she opted to dress more normal: with a red, blue and black flannel over a grey v neck shirt, blue shorts with leggings underneath and red sneakers. She carried around a backpack that was stocked with her Desert Eagle handgun, flashbang grenades, smoke grenades, and extra ammunition for herself and Bulleta.

“You never know what kind of crazy stunt people will do these days, so be prepared.” Morrison warned as held his coat in one hand and used the other to open up the doors.

“Wade already went ahead to scout the area before hand.” Trish added further, looking back at Lady and Bulleta. “He’ll be on top of the apartment building directly in front of the museum. And if things gets out of hand, he’ll provide sniper cover fire and send you two the rest of your weapons.”

“Great idea.” The raven haired devil huntress said sarcastically. “I just hope Wade doesn’t decide to use Kalina Ann as a sniper instead of an actual sniper rifle.”

“Patty, let’s move it!” Dante yelled out, he was already seated in the backseat of Trish’s car.

“Coming!” Patty called out from within the shop, she sounded like she was rushing around inside getting things ready before they left.

Trish started up the engine as Morrison took shotgun next to her. “Don’t rush her. You need to understand a girl needs to look fierce out here.” She said to Dante, looking at him from her rear view mirror.

“Alright, just don’t fall off and you’ll be fine.” Lady explained to Bulleta as she donned a red motorcycle helmet and hopped onto her motorcycle.

The younger demon huntress grinned as she placed a black motorcycle helmet over her head. “What you don’t think I trust you?” She stopped in her tracks when she looked over at their last member.

Patty was closing the double doors behind her and locking them with a key. She was dressed in a grey cardigan over a navy blue button up decorated with small grey flowers, a high waisted black skirt with black leggings underneath and grey flats. She ran over to Trish’s car while placing a blue flower on her hair and hopped in.

Bulleta didn’t realize this, but she was staring at the other girl, who eventually noticed. Patty smiled and waved at the blonde, breaking her out of her trance. The devil huntress timidly waved back and thanked herself for putting on the helmet beforehand, otherwise everyone would’ve seen her blushing face.

“Earth to Red!” Lady called, knocking on Bulleta’s helmet. “Let’s get going! Wade’s already getting bored and he’s sending me extreme close ups of people’s faces he is taking on the street.”

“U-Uh, right! Sorry.” The demon huntress apologized and climbed on the motorcycle, wrapping her arms around Lady’s waist.

The raven haired woman started up to the motorcycle and waved to her partner in crime, who drove off before her. “You comfortable?” She asked the blonde as they began to drive down the road.

“I think so.” Bulleta responded. “Nice abs by the way.”

Lady let out a laugh. "Thanks! Hard diet of steak and beating up demons is good for the core!”

\---

Trish, Dante, Morrison and Patty entered the public library, it was full of people and everything was near quiet save for the soft sounds of pages being flipped or computer keys being tapped. They passed by many college students studying on computers, children playing together on smaller tables and tutors quietly reading a book to their own students.

“I’ll check the computers about the artifact, go see if there's a supernatural section around here.” Morrison said to the others.

Trish nodded and walked over to the librarian, asking them where they kept any books related to black magic or the demon world. A strange question didn’t even bother the librarian and they pointed a direction out for the blonde demoness.

Dante, Trish and Patty looked up and down the aisles, until Trish finally found the section she was looking for. The section relating to real life accounts of anything related to demons was large, so Trish placed down her bag on the ground and began searching through.

“I’ll start on this end, Dante, take the other.” She told the half demon.

“Right.” nodded Dante, but before he went over he looked at Patty, already seated on the floor with a romance novel in her hands. She appeared to be deeply interested already despite being a few pages in. “Reading romance, Patty?” He asked with a grin. “Heard that’s all just a buncha mumbo jumbo.”

Patty looked up and puffed her cheeks at the older man. “You know you could learn a thing or two from these books.”

The devil hunter shrugged his shoulders. “Not a big fan of all that love crap. Besides, I got all I need right here.” He said, pointing at his face as a red hot smirk crossed his lips. “Ooh and here too.” He further added as he flexed his arms.

“Weirdo.” Trish said towards the half demon, causing him to deflate and Patty to giggle.

“Well can you atleast read one? For me?” Patty asked, then putting on her most precious smile, “Please? I’ll even get you one so you can read it after the mission.”

Dante couldn’t hold back a smile himself and held up his hands, “Alright, alright, kiddo. But just giving you a heads up, if I don’t like it, don’t be surprised if I’m using it as a coaster for my drinks.”

“Thank you, Dante! You won't regret it! Patty stood up, still beaming, as she walked over back to the romance section, intent on finding a book that Dante would enjoy. The half demon watched with a smile as she happily scanned about for a book, then he himself returned back to helping Trish.

“Aren’t you adorable.”

“Can it, Trish.”

\---

It was a cloudy day out, with a cold wind calmly blowing through the city. Lady parked her motorcycle directly in front of the museum. She removed her helmet and looked up towards the roof of another building, seeing Deadpool giving her a small wave from his position. She returned the wave and smiled, then set down her helmet on her bike’s seat.

“Think he can cover us if shit gets outta control?” Bulleta asked, also returning a wave to the mercenary up top.

“Don’t worry,” Lady reassured, taking Bulleta’s helmet and placing it down near hers. “Wade may be a clown, but he’s a good shot. You know he's ex-Special Forces?”

“Interesting.” The blonde admitted, not knowing that previously. She did note his and Dante's immense skill during the last missions she spent with them. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

Lady and Bulleta walked up the large steps that led into the museum, perfectly blending in with the many other people coming in and out of the museum.

Entering the Museum of Otherworldy Wonders, the two were met with many sights to see. There had to be hundreds of artifacts, paintings, fossils, and other interesting items old to new displayed all around the museum. A large skeletal structure of a T-Rex was based within the center of the whole museum and many people gathering around it to take pictures.

As Bulleta admired a set of old World War 1 items and weaponry behind glass, Lady looked over at an ancient painting of a warrior and noticed something on its golden plaque that made her smirk. The plaque had read,  _‘The Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda.’_

“Oi, found a group of tourists,” Bulleta said as she tapped the other devil huntress’ shoulder. “They got a tour guide too. Probably can lead us to our target.”

“Good idea.”

The two demon huntresses joined in within the group, seeing the tour guide talk about a specific item that seemed to make all the tourists gasp in awe.

“Believe it or not, this was actually Captain America’s _first_ shield he used in the War Against HYDRA!” The tour guide said in an exaggerated voice as he pointed at a simple, dull, shield that wasn't even painted in the colors the famous captain had on his real one. “If you look closely… it even has skull fragments of any HYDRA soldier that happened to be unlucky enough to be in the Captain’s path!” He then coughed, talking in a much lower voice. “It’ll be an extra $10 to get a close up.”

Unbelievably, the tourists were eating it up, handing their cold hard cash to the tour guide and taking pictures of the shield over and over. Lady and Bulleta shared an annoyed look with each other.

“Get a load of this fucking guy.” said Lady with a shake of her head.

“What a load of bullshit, right?” Bulleta muttered as she crossed her arms.

“He’s lucky Wade ain’t here, he's a big fan of Cap.” The raven haired devil huntress mused. “He’d probably give this guy the most painful wedgie in history. Probably historic enough to make it in this museum too.”

“And don’t worry, people! We’re just getting started! If you follow me right now, we’ll reach the _Tales to Astonish_ section!” The tour guide emphasized his words for dramatic effect, much to the two demon huntresses annoyance. “Ever heard of the Ant-Man? I sure didn’t! But the old found footage we recovered from the 80’s will make you wish you have!”

“The hell is an 'Ant-Man?'” Lady asked under her breath.

Bulleta pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a loud exhale, “This is gonna take forever...”

\---

Up on a rooftop nearby, Deadpool was slouched back on a white plastic chair, munching on a taco he had recently just bought a few minutes ago. “Did you guys miss me? I know, I missed me too.” He asked the reader in-between munches.

A DSR-1 bolt action sniper rifle was resting on its bipod right on the edge of the roof with extra magazines scattered near the mercenary’s feet. Right behind him were an assortment of weapons, including his M4 Carbine, Lady’s Kalina Ann rocket launcher and her Skorpion submachine gun, Bulleta’s customized Uzi, and a plethora of grenades and ammo.

A speaker with an MP3 player plugged into it was playing _Diet Mountain Dew_ by _Lana Del Ray_. The Merc with the Mouth sung along with the lyrics despite his mouth being chock full of taco bits and after letting out a burp, he raised up his binoculars to view around the museum’s perimeter. Something caught the merc’s attention as he used his phone to lower the volume of his speaker. He had noticed two suspicious black vans pull up near the museum, with even more suspicious men and women getting out of each vehicle.

"Wow, you said it writer, they're totally suspicious! I mean, come on, a bunch of black vans in this day and age? Who _wouldn't_ think that's weird? Shady black vans are the new creepy white vans!"

\---

After what felt like hours, the two demon huntresses finally heard something from the tour guide that sounded interesting.

“We just got this one in today…” The tour guide began, trying once again to be dramatic as possible. “Looks boring and weird, right? 'Who cares about a disc?', I can hear you all say… but what _if_ …” he paused, trying to soak in every second. “What _if_ this was the Devil’s mixtape!?"

Lady and Bulleta's audible groans could be heard from the back of the group.

"Or could it be be Lady Death’s embarrassing necklace her parents got her in middle school?! It could even be an ancient prison that contains thousands of lost souls screaming to be released! Nobody knows… since we, y’know, just got it in.” The tourists all took pictures and let out their share of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs.’

“But unfortunately, we have yet to conduct any deep research on it. So let’s move on with the tour shall we? You people won’t ever believe these eyewitness accounts of a dog in a spacesuit!” The tour guide began to usher the group to another direction.

The demon huntresses stayed back and walked up towards the item. It was the artifact they had been after and to their surprise it was barely guarded despite what Morrison had been saying earlier. The artifact was inside a simple glass box and under a small decorative purple pillow.

“Huh. Who would’ve thought.” Bulleta said, frowning at the simplicity of their ‘famed’ target.

Lady nodded in agreement and held up her phone, snapping a quick picture of the artifact. “I’ll let Trish know we found our target.” she paused, reading the text she quickly received. “Okay, she’s gonna use the better picture we have to pinpoint the artifact. It might take a while too, she and Dante found loads of shit that it could possibly be in.”

“Great. More waiting.” The blonde devil huntress said sarcastically, “Why can’t we just take it now?”

“She said we shouldn’t take it before we know what it really is…” The older demon huntress read and let out an annoyed exhale as she put her phone away. “Why bother with the details when we can have all that cash in seconds!?”

“I know.” Bulleta agreed and rubbed her face. “Anyways, we should just keep watch of it. Make sure nobody takes...” Her oceanic eyes looked back at the artifact and it was suddenly gone. “... it.”

"WHAT IN THE FUCKING FUCK?!" Lady screeched out in disbelief.

**To Be Continued...**


	6. An Ant And A Wasp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Devil May Cry team can just never catch a break as a supposedly easy mission turns out to be a headache as their target goes suddenly missing. Who could it be responsible? Perhaps another set of thieves?

“What do you mean it’s missing?!” exclaimed Trish, which earned her a large number of hushes and looks, she had forgotten she was in a library after all. She deflated a bit in slight embarrassment and sat back down, holding her phone closer to ear and spoke quieter instead, “Tell me _everything_ that happened.”

 _“Me and Red just looked away for not even a fucking minute and the target was gone! Just like that!”_ Lady explained over the phone. Trish could even hear Bulleta’s cursing and groaning from the back.

“Shit…” the blonde demoness said under her breath, “Okay, let’s try to calm down. The mission isn’t over yet, tell Wade the information and see if he can spot anyone suspicious outside.”

_“Got it!”_

\---

“Suspicious people?” repeated Deadpool as he was looking through his binoculars, “There’s like a big group of them over here. Lookin’ like they tryna start a frickin’ dance off or some crap. I didn’t really see any of them go in though, so they couldn’t have taken the artifact.”

 _“Ugh. There goes our $1,000,000…”_ Lady groaned over the phone.

The mercenary adjusted his binoculars and leaned in a bit, “Hold the phone… literally, stay on the line, I like hearing your voice.” He zoomed in on one of the suspicious people and noticed one was holding what appeared to be a detonator of some sorts. “Oh what the--”

A massive explosion was heard not too far away, followed by a large number of screams.

 _“What the hell was that?!”_ exclaimed Lady, still on the line.

“One of those suspicious goons had a detonator and blew something up! It came from down the street!” Deadpool answered as he ran over to the side to check what had happened. Peering through the binoculars he spotted many distressed people running frantically away from something. He followed the opposite path they were running from and spotted a hulking, undead creature that was rampaging the streets. It had two massive clawed arms that were the result of a strange reddish mutation that scattered around its upper body. The monster turned over cars and slashed at light poles, then eventually set its sights on the people.

“There’s a frickin’ miniboss from Resident Evil over here up in our shit!” the Merc with the Mouth yelled and reached for his DSR-1 sniper rifle. He spotted the suspicious group split off into two groups, one heading into the museum and another heading the direction of the explosion. “Heads up, those shady people are coming in, they could be after the artifact too!”

 _“Alright, we’ll keep our guard up. We'll hunt down whoever took the target, they couldn’t have gotten far, not with this panic around here.”_ Lady said, _“Can you handle whatever is out there?”_

Deadpool grinned underneath his mask and looked through the scope of his rifle, setting his targets on the head of the creature. “Lady, I was born for this.”

\---

Dante slammed his hands down on the table and pulled out his twin handguns as he walked off towards the exit. “I’m gonna go out there and help anyone in need.”

“What about the research?!” Trish asked, still staring intensely at the mess of opened books and scrolls in front of her.

“Take it with you." the half demon said, “Morrison, get everyone you find to a safe place and take Patty with you.”

Morrison nodded as he threw on his coat, “Patty, let’s go.”

“But what about you Dante?” asked Patty worriedly.

The devil hunter stopped for a moment and looked back at the younger girl, “I’m gonna do what I do best.” he said with a red hot smirk, then ran out towards the exit.

Trish cursed under her breath and tried to scramble together whatever useful information she had managed to acquire so far in her bag. She pushed the bag to Morrison’s chest and took off her coat. “Keep this safe.”

“That I can do.”

The blonde demoness brandished Luce and Ombre from their holsters and went into the direction Dante headed.

\---

“We are with S.H.I.E.L.D.! Everyone clear out!” a soldier in black riot gear ordered to everyone inside the museum. The crowds were already frantically trying to make their escape and the armored soldiers stood by ushering them all out the exits.

Lady and Bulleta were hidden behind two statues, choosing to stay behind once more. “What the hell is S.H.I.E.L.D. doing here?” the blonde demon huntress asked, staring right at the soldiers.

“Think they could be after that artifact too?” Lady questioned.

Bulleta grumbled, “Better not. We were here first.”

The museum was quickly cleared out and the only people remaining were the armored soldiers standing about. Strangely, the soldiers then begin to tear off their S.H.I.E.L.D. sleeve patches and toss them onto the floor. The two devil huntresses shared a quick look of slight confusion, before returning their sights on the soldiers.

“Everything clear?” a soldier, who appeared to be the commander of the unit, asked.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Mantis, take your men and disable the security devices. Dobermen Gang, guard the doors. Rest of you, find that artifact.” the commander ordered and the soldiers began to branch out into different directions, while a few stayed back to guard the doors.

Bulleta cursed under her breath, “Fuckin’ knew it.”

“What the hell do we do?” Lady asked, “If we fight them, they’ll see us as an enemy from now on. Which is just stupid since we literally just got help from them yesterday.”

“I know, I know…” the blonde sighed, then her oceanic eyes stared right at the fallen S.H.I.E.L.D. patch on the floor that was stepped on by a passing soldier. “But why would they tear off their insignias?”

“Shit, three of them are coming this way, get down!” ordered the raven haired demon huntress and the two of them promptly ducked behind the statues they hid behind.

The three soldiers walked up towards where the artifact was located and quickly noticed it was missing. “Sir, the target is missing. Looks like it had been done recently too.”

“Then we’re not alone in here.” the soldier said, “Set down sonar locators, they must be around here somewhere.”

Another soldier crouched down on the floor and set down a device that clamped onto the floor. It then let out visible waves of sonar that spread out around their area. The device let out a series of beeps once it had detected something and two of the soldiers turned over to a pair of statues.

“Oh shit.” whispered Lady as a cold sweat passed over her upon seeing the sonar wave pass her legs. Her and Bulleta brandished their respective handguns and awaited in silence as the soldiers walked to their position with their FN SCAR assault rifles raised up.

“Hold your positions.” the third soldier ordered, causing the two other ones to stop in their tracks. “The locator detected one other target… and it’s right in front of me.” he looked up and around him, seeing absolutely nothing. “Must be a glitc-”

The two devil huntresses watched as the soldier was suddenly struck by what appeared to be an invisible force. The soldier was stumbling back, his gasmask’s lenses cracked once he was struck again that sent him tumbling down, out cold.

“What the hell?! Sir!?” the other soldier let out a breathless gasp as the unknown force hit her in the stomach. Something struck the bottom of her chin and she fell down onto the floor knocked out as well.

The final soldier aimed his rifle around frantically, sweating bullets underneath his gasmask. He attempted to fire his weapon but realized his trigger was jammed, but upon taking a look himself, there was a large gathering of ants preventing him from pulling the trigger. Lady and Bulleta could only watch as the soldier let out a horrid scream as a swarm of ants suddenly began to crawl all over his body.

“Hold on, we’ll help!” Lady said, getting out of cover, with Bulleta running out as well after some time deciding.

Though it was too late as the ants dispersed from the soldier, who let out a quiet exhale of relief. The soldier was alive, but in a state of shock and was unable to move. The ants all swarmed a circle around Lady and Bulleta’s legs, preventing them from moving.

“Okay, okay! We won’t help then!” the raven haired demon huntress exclaimed, her eyes darting around at the mess of insects around her.

Bulleta looked over at the ground and saw the artifact, with ants carrying it over. “What the shit? There’s the artifact!” she exclaimed and tried to reach down to take it, but a mysterious figure suddenly appeared in front of her.

\---

Deadpool watched from his scope as the mysterious group from earlier were firing at the monster rampaging through the streets. He zoomed in and saw the group had a B.S.A.A. insignia on their shoulder sleeves. “Those don’t look like their standard issue uniform and gear…” the mercenary said to himself, further examining the soldiers.

A flying bug passed by the scope of his sniper rifle and Deadpool set it down to try swat away the insect. He was surprised when a small blast of lightning suddenly struck him in between his eyes. “The heck! Is that you, Trish?!” he exclaimed and rubbed the area that was slightly stinging. “You know there’s a time and a place for blasting things on my face…” he said and winked towards the reader.

He heard a very distinct sound and felt the sudden presence of someone behind him. “I’m not Trish.” a woman’s voice said. “But I do got a few questions myself for you, mister.”

Deadpool turned right around and in front of him was a woman in a form fitting black and yellow suit made from appeared to be lightweight armor. The woman’s face was hidden under a unique black helmet with a large yellow visor. The most notable part of the suit though, was the pair of insect-like wings sprouting from the back of the suit.

“Bumblebee?” asked Deadpool, tilting his head to the side.

“No… it’s ‘Wasp.’” the woman corrected, revealing herself as the superheroine alter ego of Hope Van Dyne, the Wasp. She inherited the suit and the alter ego from her late mother, Janet Van Dyne. Thanks to her specialized suit, the Wasp has the ability ability to shrink at will, with her strength growing in turn. Her suit’s wings allow her to zoom at incredible speeds, plus paired with her powered gloves that fire electricity, which make her a hero that would be unwise to underestimate.

“Yellowjacket?”

“Wasp.”

“Hornet lady?”

“Wasp.”

“Spider-Man?”

“That’s not even…” the Wasp let out an annoyed sigh, “Speaking of Spider-Man, what’s a shady weirdo dressed in a dollar store Spider-Man suit doing up here with a sniper rifle, huh?”

Deadpool gasped and held his hand over his mouth, “Spider-Man suit?! Now that’s just rude, Bubblebutt Bee!” he exclaimed, tilting his head further trying to see the woman’s backside.

“Hey, what the-- Eyes up here!” the Wasp said, zapping another small, but harmless, lighting blast at the mercenary.

 _“Everything alright, Hope?”_ a voice asked from a receiver in her helmet.

Wasp let out a short groan, “Just some clown with a rifle. I’m gonna deal with him in a second. You got the artifact?”

_“Yeah, there’s just a little problem though…”_

“What is it?” the Wasp asked, turning back to the mercenary who suddenly disappeared from her sight. “Damn, I lost him! I’ll call you back!” she flew upwards to get a better view of the rooftops. She eventually spotted Deadpool settling down on another sniper position, his sights on one of the soldiers.

The Wasp zoomed in and shrunk down, making a grab for the mercenary’s katana straps and throwing him off to the side. Deadpool tumbled onto the floor and got back up quickly, firing his handguns wildly at the air. “Other than look at your butt, what the heck did I ever do to you!?”

The mercenary felt a force strike at the side of his head and he was sent down to the ground again. The Wasp grew in size again and planted her foot down on his back. “Nothing. I just don’t trust weirdos with guns aiming at soldiers trying to protect innocent lives, that’s all.”

“Newsflash, Yellow Power Ranger! I’m the one trying to protect those people down there!” exclaimed Deadpool, “And this weirdo with guns won’t let you stop him!” he suddenly disappeared in a flash of red.

The Wasp’s foot stepped down onto the floor and she turned around too late, a roundhouse kick striking her on her sides. As she was sent faltering back, she shrunk down and flew right towards the mercenary, delivering a series of lightning zaps and punches across his body.

“Ow! OW!” Deadpool squealed as he then pulled out a can of bug spray, spraying it wildly around him. “How is this even fair?! I can’t even see you!”

“Can you see me now?” the Wasp asked, growing in size right above the mercenary. She wrapped her legs around the back of his neck and used her weight to slam him down to the floor.

Deadpool let out a high pitched yelp of pain and activated his teleporter again, disappearing in another red flash. The Wasp looked down to see the mercenary had left behind a flashbang grenade and she scrambled to get out of the way, but the explosive went off.

The superheroine was blinded for a moment on the ground and tried to shield her eyes from the blinding effect. She flew up towards the air to regain her senses and once they returned, she shrunk back down to look for the mercenary.

“INCOOOMING!” screamed Deadpool as he brought down a fly swatter near the Wasp, who managed to fly out of the way. He was holding two fly swatters and swinging them around as if they were his katanas. “Take this! And that! And some of this!”

The Wasp fired a burst of electricity at the mercenary’s face, which blinded him. She then zoomed in and struck his nose with her fist, forcing him near the edge of the rooftop. She regrew in size and picked up one of the merc’s ‘weapon’ of choice against her. “Fly swatters? Really?” she said with a shake of her head, tossing aside the swatter. She walked towards the mercenary and cracked her knuckles, “Now you’re just insulting me.”

\---

“Hi.” the figure that had appeared in front of Bulleta greeted in a friendly tone, even with a small wave.

“Who the hell are you?” asked the blonde, standing back up and looking at the figure.

It was a man dressed in a black and red suit reminiscent of motorcycle gear with a silver helmet that had two separate red eye lenses that hid his face. This was the Ant-Man, Scott Lang’s superhero alter ego he inherited from the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym. Like the Wasp, he had the ability to shrink at will that increases his strength and durability in turn. An ability unique to his suit though, specifically the helmet, was the ability to telepathically communicate with ants.

“Me?” Ant-Man said, looking around as if he had heard the most unbelievable thing ever. “I’m Ant-Man.” he proclaimed, a confident smile under his helmet. That smile went away slowly when he was met with blank looks. “You never heard of me?" the two simply shook their head in response. "You guys _sure_ you haven’t heard of me?”

Lady looked at Bulleta, the younger girl shrugging with a disgruntled look on her face. “Okay… what’re you doing here?” the blonde asked.

Ant-Man squinted behind his helmet, “What are _you_ doing here?”

“No, what are _YOU_ doing here?” Lady probed, crossing her arms together.

“Okay, stop.” Bulleta said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Did you take out those soldiers?”

“Oh, those guys?” Ant-Man looked back at the out cold soldiers, “Yep.”

“And you control ants?”

“Yep.”

“Are you after the artifact?” asked Lady, looking down at their target that was still surrounded by ants.

“Yep.” Ant-Man then received a radio call from his helmet.

 _“Scott, just so you know,”_ the Wasp began from the other line, _“We’re not supposed to tell anyone we’re after the artifact.”_

“Oh.”

Bulleta rolled her eyes and went back for the artifact. “This is a waste of time.”

Ant-Man stepped in front of the artifact again, “Listen, don’t make this hard. I _really_ don’t wanna fight girls still in high school.”

“Fuck you mean ‘still in high school?!’ I’m 21!” Lady exclaimed with a sharp glare at the superhero.

“No problem for me then.” Bulleta pulled on the edge of her gloves and cracked her neck, “I’m fine fighting losers in stupid costumes.”

Soldiers suddenly stormed in and upon seeing their downed comrades before the three, they opened fire at them. Bulleta and Lady jumped out of the way, while Ant-Man shrunk down and sprinted towards the soldiers.

As ants began to swarm the feet of the soldiers, Ant-Man jumped onto their shoulders and sent a flurry of punches to their jaws and chests. While the superhero and his ‘minions’ were dealing with the soldiers, Lady took this opportunity to swipe the artifact before she and Bulleta made a run for another exit.

The two devil huntresses sprinted down another section of the museum and were stopped by another group of soldiers. “Stop right where you are. All civilians are to be escorted out.”

Bulleta and Lady looked at each other, a mischievous smirk coming across their lips. With that, they both rushed the soldiers and in seconds they were taking them down one by one. Bulleta threw a soldier over her shoulder and drove her elbow into another one’s chest, then swinging around and landing her fist on the soldier’s gasmask. Lady delivered a series of punches and kicks to one soldier, ending it with a roundhouse kick to their gut. She turned right around and disarmed another soldier in seconds before he could fire at her. She struck the butt of the FN SCAR assault rifle to the soldier and knocked him out, then swung the rifle again like a club and swiped another soldier off their feet. 

After finishing their work, the two demon huntresses shared a fist bump with eachother and continued their run for the exit.

Ant-Man dusted off his hands and looked about his handiwork: a load of soldiers knocked out cold. “Now, for that artifact!” he turned his head back to see it was missing from where he had left it. “Aw, come on…”

\---

Another one of the monstrous creatures emerged from an alleyway and it set its sights on a certain pair of devils.

“Now there’s a face only a mother can love.” Dante said with a smirk as the monster began running towards them.

Trish scoffed and readied into a battle stance, “You’re one to talk, Dante.”

The creature swung its claws at the two, both jumping out of the way. Dante landed on the arm of the monstrosity and delivered a kick to its face, sending it stumbling back. While in the air, the half demon brandished his twin handguns and fired down rapidly at the monster, “Forecast today reads a rainstorm!”

The creature fell on one of its knees from the hail of bullets, while Dante landed on the palm of his hand then sprung himself back on his feet.

While it was distracted, Trish jumped in and struck the monster in its chest with a lighting fueled punch. She then spun around and fired electric shots from Luce and Ombre directly into the monster’s face, resulting in its skull blowing completely apart and its lifeless body crashing down.

“Stealing my spotlight, as usual.” Dante said with a scoff. The demoness simply blew away the smoke from the barrels of her handguns and smiled.

They notice the other creature was taken down as well, but it wasn’t killed. The soldiers aimed their weapons at it while others placed its arms within a large set of heavy duty cuffs that would contain its clawed hands. “Yo, jarheads!” Dante called out to the soldiers, but none of them bothered to respond.

The half demon looked back at Trish, the latter shrugging unsurely. “You guys with Chuck’s unit?” Dante asked as he walked up to one of the soldiers, “Guess that explains what these things are. B.O.W.s, right?”

The soldier still didn’t respond. Dante tilted his head and placed a hand on the soldier’s shoulder, “Yo, you alright--” the soldier suddenly turned around and brandished a Mateba Autorevolver, setting the barrel right on the half demon's head. Caught off guard, Dante was shot right in his head and was sent straight to the ground.

“Dante!” screamed Trish, not noticing a soldier behind her also pull out another revolver. The soldier fired a bullet into the back of her head and the demoness fell face first onto the pavement.

“NO!” Deadpool cried out, having seen the scene unfold from the rooftops. He pushed the Wasp off his body and jumped down, ditching their battle. He grabbed onto a ladder to break his fall, then shot the lock holding it with his M1911 handgun. The ladder crashed down and the merc jumped off, then landed in a roll and proceeded to where his friends were. The Wasp, having realized her mistakes, dove off the rooftop and followed the mercenary.

Deadpool slung out his M4 Carbine and opened fire at the soldiers, first taking out the two that had shot Dante and Trish. After emptying his current magazine, the mercenary slid forward to avoid the rain of bullets directed at him. He pulled out his dual handguns and fired at the knees of any soldier that got within his sights. “See if you can sneak up on someone now with your knees blown off!” he said and finished them off with a few quick headshots.

The Merc with the Mouth holstered his pistols and ran back to the white haired half demon, helping him up. “You good, man?” he asked his friend while pulling out the .454 Casull bullet from his forehead, the bullet being nearly as large and wide as a AA battery. “Jesus, this is a huge ass bullet too!”

Dante held onto his forehead and felt his flesh repairing itself, “Yeah, I’m fine...” he said as his hands balled up into fists, his icy blue orbs glaring right at the soldiers. "How's Trish?"

“Pissed.” the demoness growled through her teeth as she pulled out the large bullet from the back of her head herself. She punched down onto the street, leaving a fist shaped dent within the pavement, then got up to her feet.

The Wasp flew in, her eyes widening up behind her helmet upon seeing the two being back on their feet. “You two are alright? But... how?”

“I’ll tell you after this, hun.” Trish responded as she picked up her twin handguns. She aimed down the sights and took out two soldiers, shooting right at their throats.

Deadpool jumped at the sight, not at all expecting what he had seen. “Whoa, what the heck?!” he exclaimed watching the soldiers trying to hold back the blood spurting from the bullet holes within their throats.

The half demon stepped in front of the mercenary and fired another two shots from Ebony and Ivory, taking out two more soldiers with headshots.

“What. The. HELL?!” The Merc with the Mouth screeched again at what he had just witnessed. “Like I know y’all are pissed and everything, but what happened to your ‘no killing humans’ rule?!”

“They aren’t human.” Dante corrected, his ice blue eyes glaring right at the soldiers. The soldiers he and Trish had taken out began to spasm violently and within a blink of an eye demons ripped their way out of the bodies they were hiding within.

This time, the Wasp joined Deadpool in screaming as demons that resembled humanoid grey praying mantises pulled themselves from bloodied corpses. Various organs and buckets of blood dripped from the devils and they instantly charged right towards the group. A pair of demons roared as they rushed the Wasp, who was too frightened to move, until Trish jumped right in and disposed of them with her handguns. The last pair were filled with lead by Dante, the bullets shredding the devils in multiple pieces.

“W-What were those… t-things?!” the Wasp stammered she took a step back from the unearthly monstrosity on the floor. Her eyes were wide as head lights as she stared at the demon's face, that had been gruesomely separated from the rest of its body. 

“What do you think they are?” Trish responded, “They’re demons, hun.”

The superheroine couldn’t even believe her ears, “D-Demons? You _have_ to be joking right? ... Right!?”

“Tch, I wish.” Dante muttered, looking down at one of the demons. “Demon scum are real and they are here.” he stomped his boot down onto the demon’s head, splattering blood, skull fragments and brain matter around his boot.

The remaining soldiers opened fire at the four, while a few released the B.O.W. from its cuffs. “We’ve been compromised, let’s move!” a soldier called out and they all scrambled towards the van, leaving the B.O.W. setting its sights on the heroes.

“Oh no you don’t!” Dante swung out Rebellion and slashed right through the B.O.W., slicing it in two. He swung his broadsword upwards and sliced the two pieces into four, resulting in blood spewing from every direction imaginable. As blood soaked all over him, he looked over at the remaining soldiers with a malicious grin, causing them all to panic and run off. The sight of the gutting almost made the Wasp throw up inside her helmet, but she managed to hold it in.

The soldiers piled into the van and drove off, barely managing to escape from the psychopathic demon hunter out for their blood.

“Okay…” the Wasp said, then took another deep breath, “Can anybody tell me what the _HELL_ is going on here?!”

“Hell. _Hell_ is going on here.” answered Dante coldly, looking back at the young woman with his icy blue eyes. His blood stained form and chilling answer made her shiver in her boots.

“Way to be a drama queen, Dante.” Trish said with a roll of her eyes.

The half demon suddenly put on a much friendlier smile and he shrugged innocently, “What? I was just getting into it!”

“You people are insane…” the Wasp said under her breath.

“You bet we are!” agreed Deadpool, hanging his arm around her neck. “Guys, this is Hornet Girl!”

The Wasp grabbed a hold of the mercenary's hand and twisted it, “Actually, it’s Wasp.”

“Wasp, huh?” Dante acknowledged with a small nod, “Name’s Dante. That there’s Trish.”

Trish waved at the superheroine, a warm smile on her face. “We should skip formalities for now. We gotta get to the museum.” she said and looked down the street to where the museum was.

“The museum?” the Wasp echoed, “My partner is in there!”

“So is two of our own.” the blonde demoness said.

“BTW, guys…” Deadpool began, rubbing his pained wrist. “Another group of those soldiers went in there earlier…”

The Wasp floated up in the air, “Then let’s not waste any time! We gotta stop them!” she said and flew ahead of the three.

\---

“Our men outside have been compromised, barely escaping with heavy casualties.” the commander informed her soldiers. “That means we need to find that artifact, right now!” As soon as this was said, she turned her head over to see two young women, one of them holding the artifact in her hands.

“Oh crap.” Lady said slowly as she put on a nervous smile. Bulleta grabbed her hand and they made a run for the opposite direction, with the soldiers chasing right after them.

The two demon huntresses spotted Ant-Man running their direction, suddenly disappearing as he had shrunk down. He landed on Lady’s hand and picked up the artifact, then grew back to his normal size. “Aha! Got it now-” unfortunately for him, a heavily armored soldier clotheslined him before he could get away.

The artifact flew up into the air and the armored soldier caught it, not noticing Ant-Man had got himself back up and shrunk. The soldier quickly received a beating from the shrunken hero and the artifact flew out of his hands. Bulleta ran back and swept up the artifact then tucked it within her jacket, not looking back as she caught up with Lady on their escape.

Soldiers began to open fire at Ant-Man and he managed to shrink again, hopping on a winged ant as he gave chase to the two demon huntresses.

“RUN FASTER!” screamed Lady, having looked back to see not just soldiers chasing them, but a horde of ants as well, and they were closing right on their heels.

“Why the hell don’t you shoot then?!” Bulleta exclaimed while struggling to retrieve her pistol from her jacket.

“I DON’T WANNA HURT ANTS!” Lady screamed back even louder than before.

The two demon huntresses reached the front doors again, only to meet another squad of soldiers waiting for them with their assault rifles trained on them. Suddenly, Deadpool bursted in through the door, which said door knocked an unlucky soldier out. He rushed a soldier and pants him, "CAUGHT Y'ALL WITH YO PANTS DOWN!" the mercenary exclaimed as he drop kicked the struggling soldier towards a wall.

The Wasp then flew in her shrunken size and charged right past a pair of soldiers with her fist, knocking them both out in one blow. She then grew in size and disarmed another soldier and struck her palm to his gasmask, flinging him back against the wall.

“Hope?!” Ant-Man called out after growing back to normal size, “Who are these guys?” he questioned, looking over at Dante, Deadpool and Trish.

“There’s no time to explain! Let's take these guys out first!” the Wasp said in a hurry before shrinking back down, flying right towards the group of soldiers that had been chasing Bulleta and Lady before.

Dante rushed in, using Rebellion to block any bullets coming his way. He jumped in the air and returned his demonic broadsword behind him, then sent a downward punch to a soldier, then sent a strong front kick that sent said soldier crashing into his comrades. "Stiiir-ike!"

Trish and the Wasp stood side by side, both firing bolts of lighting towards the remaining soldiers. The electricity connected to every single one of them and shocked them enough to leave them down for the count. The blonde demoness blew away the smoke from her hand and smiled towards the superheroine, "You're pretty good!"

"I can say the same about you too!" the Wasp complimented and lightly nudged the other woman's arm. 

“So that happened.” Ant-Man said, looking at the newcomers with confusion. “Anyone wanna tell me what’s going-” he was interrupted as another group of S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers barged in through the doors.

The rest of the group readied themselves for another fight, but were met with a familiar voice calling for everyone to put down their arms.

C. Viper walked in through the doors with her hands raised up, “It’s okay, everyone calm down now.”

Lady lowered her Desert Eagle slightly and tilted her head, “Maya?”

“Yes, it’s me, now will everyone _please_  ease up.” the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent informed the group. “The tension is so sharp in here, feels like a blade is being held up against my neck.” she cleared her throat and looked over at Dante, “Your friend, Morrison, called me and told me about the situation. So I came in here with a few of my men as fast as I could.”

“We didn’t ask about that. We wanna know why the fuck were S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers attacking us.” Bulleta questioned, having her M9 Beretta still raised up and trained on the redheaded woman.

C. Viper’s eyes glared behind her yellow aviators at the downed soldiers, “Because they aren’t S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers.” she finally answered. “Neither were those soldiers outside, they aren’t part of B.S.A.A.”

The agent crouched down and pulled the gasmask from the commander of the unknown soldiers, revealing a rugged looking woman with buzzed hair and multiple scars. “You’re going to tell me who you people are. Right. Now.”

“We’re closer than you expect.” the commander answered roughly before pulling out one of her own teeth with her tongue, then biting down on it. “We are in your shadows. We are the sins you have all created… but at the same time, we are no one.” her voice began to fade as her mouth began to foam up along with her eyes slowly shutting.

“Cyanide pill?!” C. Viper exclaimed, then looked all around as the other downed soldiers began to do the same as their commander. Each one of them tore off their gasmask and bit down on a false tooth, within seconds they all died with the same foaming around their mouths. The redheaded woman rose up and ordered her men to scout the entire museum and bring back any of the unknown soldiers.

As the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers scrambled around to find any other fake agents, C. Viper approached the Devil May Cry staff and removed her sunglasses. “Do any of you have any idea what these soldiers were after?”

Bulleta and Lady looked at eachother with mutual frowns, then back to the agent. With a sigh, the blonde devil huntress pulled out the artifact and showed it towards the older woman. “They were after this.”

“Actually, we found that first.” Ant-Man added, but the Wasp was quick to hush him.

C. Viper picked up the artifact from Bulleta’s hands, scanning it from front to back. “What could be so important about this?”

“Not sure yet,” Trish began, “But it is demonic in origin, as I predicted. But that’s all I found out so far.”

“Demons?” scoffed Ant-Man and shook his head, then looked over at his partner, “Can you believe this?”

“I can, actually… wish I didn’t, but I believe it.” the Wasp answered, almost quietly. “Scott, there are just some things we aren’t meant to see.” she shivered as she remembered back not too long ago. The monstrosities sprouting from the corpses of those soldiers and attacking her will haunt her forever.

Trish walked up to the superheroine and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry your little head over that. There are much _much_  worse demons out there." she calmly said, hoping it would have assured her. The Wasp only set her head down, trying not to imagine anything worse than what she had witnessed. Trish looked over at the artifact C. Viper held in her hands. "Besides... that thing looks near useless anyway from what I can tell."

“We can never be too sure…” C. Viper mused, “Who employed you all to find this?”

Both Ant-Man and Dante answered at the same time, “Wreeks.” the two then looked at each other in mild surprise, then something inside both of them clicked instantly.

“Reeks like…” Ant-Man began slowly.

“Bullshit?” Dante answered, an amused smile forming on his face.

“Bullshit!” Ant-Man repeated excitedly and the two men high fived eachother instantly, much to the dismay of Trish and the Wasp, plus Deadpool, who was grumbling about ‘stupid bug loser trying to take my best bro’ under his breath.

C. Viper rubbed her chin and frowned, “I’m not familiar with that name… I’ll have to look into it soon.” she looked up when one of her soldiers returned to her. “What’s the SITREP? (Situation Report)”

“All dead, ma’am.” the soldier answered with a short sigh. “Every single one of them took a suicide pill. Guess no one wanted to be taken alive.”

“Damn...” the redheaded woman cursed to herself.

The soldier raised up a S.H.I.E.L.D. unit patch and handed it to her commander, “We also found these. Same amount as every soldier in here.” she explained, “All of it was scattered across the museum.”

C. Viper observed the patch closely, looking for any differences in their own. “Could they be trying to frame us?” she asked herself.

A phone suddenly rang and Dante pulled out a cellphone from his coat. “What’s up, Morrison?” he greeted after answering the call.

 _“Dante.”_ Morrison began on the other line, _“Everyone’s gotten to safety. S.H.I.E.L.D. came down and are helping with damage control. Patty’s with me too. How’s everything on your end?”_

“A mess.” the half demon answered as he looked around at the soldiers that had killed themselves. “How about you? Found anything on the computer?”

_“Not exactly. But I have been thinking about this Wreeks character that hired you all… and I did a little rearranging of the letters and…”_

Dante felt the seriousness of his friend’s voice and held the phone closer to his ear, “And?”

_“It spells out… ‘Wesker.’”_

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: scott lang and hope van dyne, ant-man and the wasp respectively. based on their appearance in the ant-man movie.


	7. No Days Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the mission had turned out to be a dud, the team return to the Devil May Cry office and split up to begin their investigations on the strange events of the last mission.

_“It spells out… ‘Wesker.’”_

“I _knew_ it reeked of bullshit.” Dante muttered under his breath.

_“Listen, I’ll try to look more into it. But for now you all should get back to the office as soon as you can.”_

“Alright.” The half demon hung up and tucked his phone back into his coat. He walked up to C. Viper and told her of what he had just learned, “Turns out that Wreeks was an anagram for Wesker.”

The redheaded woman didn’t immediately buy it, “Albert Wesker is contained in a highly protected prison far far away from here.. but it won’t hurt to question him if he knows anything about this operation.”

“Where’s this prison anyway?” asked Dante curiously.

“If you want to get there, you better bring some swim trunks.” C. Viper joked with a small grin, “If you want to see Wesker himself, well that’s something you need to take up with Colonel Valentine. All I can do is provide you a ride there.”

“The ride will be enough, trust me.” the half demon said, “And for ol’ Jill? Well I know my way around a woman.”

C. Viper scoffed and placed her aviators back, “Right. Good luck with that. Call me when you’re ready to get a lift.” she turned her attention back to the rest of the Devil May Cry staff, “And for the artifact, S.H.I.E.L.D. will take custody of it for further study. So no reward money for anyone.”

Almost all of the group let out a groan in response, with the exceptions of Trish and the Wasp.

“Let’s move it, people! I want this place cleaned up!” C. Viper ordered her soldiers and they immediately did as they were told. “Load up the bodies and leave no traces they were even here!”

“I guess no one wins then.” Ant-Man said, sounding defeated.

“Well I for one am glad no one does.” The Wasp retorted, “I don’t think I wanna do anything like this ever again… if I see another demon ever again I’ll freak.” How she said ‘demon’ was distant and careful, still trying to process what she had seen.

Trish walked up towards the superheroine and clapped her shoulder, “No worries, hun. Listen, if you ever hear any bumps in the night give us a call.” She handed a black card to the other woman, it simply had ‘Devil May Cry’ written in neon red cursive and a number on the bottom of it.

“Appreciate it...” The Wasp thanked meekly as she took the card, almost feeling embarrassed that ghosts and goblins were making her shake in her boots.

The demoness smiled and nodded, not before remembering to ask the other woman another question. “And hey, you’re pretty cool too, so…” She began as she took out her cellphone, “Why don’t you take down my number as well? We should hang out sometime.”

The Wasp warmed up upon hearing this and pulled out her cellphone. “Sure! How about coffee?”

“It’s a date.” Trish teased and the two shared a small laugh with eachother before exchanging numbers.

Ant-Man and Dante stared with their jaws agape at the exchange, then looked over at each other, then looked back at the two women.

“Yoooooooooo.” Deadpool simply said as he got inbetween the two, staring at the Wasp and Trish as well. “It’s like Coulomb’s Law. Except with people. It’s because they both can shoot electricity outta there hands. Kinda like how two electric charges are attracted to eachother and… just stop listening to me, I had a D in science.”

Ant-Man looked back at the masked mercenary behind him, then over to Dante. “What is with this guy?”

“Don’t ask.” The half demon answered in deadpan.

 _“Scott.”_ A voice addressed over Ant-Man’s radio. _“You and Hope need to get back here now.”_

“Dr. Pym?” The superhero asked as he took a few steps away from the two red mercenaries. “What’s the problem?”

 _“Nothing. It’s just demons shouldn’t be something we should be messing around with. Trust me, I had enough run ins with the Ghost Rider and Dr. Strange and I can guarantee we are not fit for dealing with that.”_ Dr. Pym explained over the radio. _“Leave it to the professionals, Scott. Now you and Hope get back here soon, feels like my skin is still crawling from just seeing those monsters from her helmet feed.”_

Ant-Man turned his head to see Dante and Deadpool arguing with one another about something trivial and he couldn’t even believe for one second these were professionals. With a sigh, he told Dr. Pym of their immediate return and got ready to leave.

“I hate to interrupt such a fascinating conversation,” Ant-Man said sarcastically as he butted in between Trish and the Wasp. “But we need to go.”

The Wasp clicked her tongue upon hearing this. “Is it my dad?” She asked and visibly deflated when her partner nodded. “Ugh, alright then.”

“It was nice meeting you.” Trish said happily, half hoping to annoy the woman’s partner.

“You too!” the Wasp shook the demoness’ hand and the Ant-Man was quick to insist that they leave already.

The shrinking duo and demon hunters apologized for any bumps and bruises both parties received and went off to their separate ways.

\---

The team arrived back at the office and Patty opened the double doors for them. She happily greeted each of them and was even picked up off her feet by Dante, who held her over his shoulder much to her complaints.

Lady slumped down on the couch, followed by Deadpool and Bulleta who did the same on the other couch. The three of them were still groaning like zombies at the reveal they weren’t able to cash in the reward for retrieving the artifact.

“What’s wrong, guys?” asked Patty, still being carried by the white haired half demon.

“Money…” Lady said as she reached out to her imaginary money bag that was floating infront of her. She was nearly tearing up just thinking about losing her $1,000,000.

“Imagine how many anime figurines I could buy with that cash…” The Merc with the Mouth whispered to himself, having forgotten there were other people in the room. “I-I mean GUNS! And BULLETS! And PROTEIN!”

Morrison let out a small laugh upon hearing the complaints. “I do suppose it was partly my fault for assigning you all on a faulty mission.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Morrison.” Trish responded without even looking up from her phone. “No one would’ve even guessed we would run into a task force, biological monsters and superheroes that shrink at will.”

“Right, right…” Morrison placed his hat back on his head and opened up the door. “I’ll be taking my leave now. I’ll call in when I find anymore new jobs and hopefully they won’t turn into such a mess. You all take care now.”

The group all said their goodbyes for now before the man walked out of the door.

“We should totally break into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s vault and deliver the artifact to Wreeks.” Bulleta jokingly suggested to Lady.

The dark haired demon huntress let out a laugh. “Pfft, we’ll be dead before we even get in the vault.”

“Speaking of ‘Wreeks’...” Dante said as he finally put Patty down onto the couch next to Lady. “I gotta go look into that.”

“Why?” asked Trish with a raised eyebrow, “You don’t wanna rest up first?”

“I’ll be fine.” The half devil dismissed with a wave of his hand. “It’s just Morrison figured out ‘Wreeks’ is an anagram for Wesker. It may be next to nothing, but it’s a lead. Viper said she can take me to the prison that’s holding him so that’s what I plan to do.”

“I see. Let’s hope it doesn’t end up like the last time you went to a prison.” The demoness said and picked up the bag full of research from the table. “In the meantime, I’ll get back to my studying.”

Dante grinned and shot a gun shaped hand gesture towards her. “You have fun with that.” He turned his head towards his partner in crime, “Yo Wade. You wanna come?”

“Well yeah, no shoot!” Deadpool sprang up from his seat. “Who wants to see you just hanging around a prison by yourself again? I mean let’s be honest, that episode of your anime was kinda freaky…”

“Mind if we borrow your ride?” Dante asked Trish, who simply tossed him the keys that landed perfectly in his hands.

“If I see a single scratch on it I’m taking away your car privileges.” The demoness warned jokingly.

“That’ll be the day.” The white haired devil hunter said with a grin and nodded towards the Merc with the Mouth. “Let’s do this, Wade.”

“Right behind ya!” Deadpool said, then took a few seconds to think about what he had said. “Actually… that’s kinda weird to say, especially since we’re going to a prison…” His partner in crime shot an annoyed glare at him before they proceeded out of the office.

Trish sat with her back against the wall and began to lay out the scrolls and books she had retrieved from the library.

“Hey, I’ll help!” Lady offered and sat on the opposite end of her partner. The demoness thanked her warmly and resumed looking back at the pile. After staring for not even a minute at the mess of information, the raven haired woman began to slightly regret offering her help.

“You two don’t wanna be bored here all day, do you?” Trish asked the two younger girls sitting quietly on the couch.

“Well, I did kinda wanna go with Da--” Bulleta was interrupted in an instant by Lady.

“Dude, forget your duties for once and just kick back!” The raven haired woman told her. “Heard there’s a cool new arcade that just opened up downtown!” She explained as she laid flat on her belly and kicked her legs up and down.

Patty perked up upon hearing the magic words. “I love arcades!” She said, twinkles in her sapphire colored eyes.

“Ayee, then you guys should check it out! See if it’s any good?” Lady suggested with a large smile, her eyes quickly darting towards Bulleta who was staring back at her with wide eyes and rapid blinking. Her smile grew wider seeing the dash of blushing on the blonde’s cheeks. _All according to plan!_

The flaxen haired girl was practically bouncing in her seat and turned her sights on the girl next to her. “Do you want to come with me?”

“I-I…” Bulleta stammered and gulped. “Yeah. Yes. I’m very fine. I mean I am very fine with that.”

“Then let’s go!” Patty jumped off her seat and grabbed the blonde’s hand.

Bulleta’s face was practically red now and she attempted to cover her face with her sleeve, hearing Lady and Trish’s quiet laughter as she was dragged out of the office.

“Have fun you two~!” Trish teased as the two left through the double doors. She let out a dreamy sigh and returned back to looking at her phone. “Kids these days.”

Lady raised an eyebrow and grinned, having seen her partner smile everytime she looked at her phone. “Why you looking at your phone like that huh?”

The blonde demoness slowly looked up at her partner, her eyebrows furrowed. She took atleast a full second to answer back. “... Nothing.”

“IS IT WHO I THINK IT IS?!” Lady cried out as she suddenly sprung up and tried reaching for her friend’s phone. “COME ON, LEMME SEEEEEE!”

“NOPE! STOP!” Trish held back the raven haired woman’s face with her hand, while using her other hand to continue texting. “LADY! SERIOUSLY, STO--” She crashed down on the floor with her partner still trying to pry the phone from her hands.

\---

A Quinjet slowed to a descent atop a rooftop with Deadpool and Dante awaiting patiently. The jet’s hatch opened up and the two expected to see C. Viper, but instead were met with another familiar face. Captain Chuck Greene stepped out of the jet and leaned against its side with his arms crossed. “Need a lift?”

As the jet traveled towards their destination, the three men began catching up on recent events. Deadpool nodded his head in admiration at the inside of the Quinjet, “Fancy! When did the B.S.A.A. have access to one of these babies?”

“Since the big purple guy tried eating our planet, that’s when.” Chuck answered, “Since then, organizations all around the world have been working together for the benefit and safety of this world.”

“Guess you can count the Devil May Cry as one of those organizations now.” Dante said to himself as he leaned back comfortably in his seat. “So Chucky, you must’ve heard from Viper about that task force we had the misfortune of running into earlier?”

The captain nodded, “Was briefed immediately as word came around about some shady goons using our unit patches. We tracked their van down and cornered them. Most of them were killed in the following firefight, but the remaining ones offed themselves with a suicide capsule.”

“Jeez what a bunch of weenies, right fellas?” Deadpool quipped and nudged his half demon partner, who rolled his eyes.

“Whoever is leading them, they sure as hell don’t want any of their soldiers revealing any information.” Chuck said with a shake of his head, “That’s some damn loyalty.”

Dante sat up properly and added in, “Or could be fear. Maybe if they were to talk, their boss would give them something much worse than any of us could ever think of.”

“We won’t know the answer till we interrogate a live one…” the B.S.A.A. captain concluded.

“Right.” the half demon agreed, “Anyways, whoever hired us to find that artifact called themselves ‘Wreeks.’ A friend of mine eventually found out it was actually Wesker with the letters all jumbled up. What do you think?”

Chuck thought to himself for a moment, then answered, “Wesker’s old organization did have multiple splinter cells that emerged from it. They could be behind it, but the man himself is under lock and key somewhere far and dark.”

“Sounds kinky.” the Merc with the Mouth added with a small laugh without looking up from a random magazine he suddenly acquired.

Dante couldn’t hold in a smirk and Chuck let out a small sigh before continuing. “Anyway, Colonel Valentine made sure that Wesker has no chance in hell of escaping. It is the most highly secured prison in the world.”

“Really now?” the half demon asked, half believing the captain. “Where exactly is this prison anyway, bud?”

A smirk formed on Chuck’s face as he looked towards the cockpit of the jet. “Below us.”

The Quinjet slowly descended into the ocean, transforming from a jet into a submarine within seconds. The two red clad mercenaries stared in awe with impressed smiles as they went deeper down below the water.

\---

It was a fine day out, despite what had happened earlier. The sky remained a clear blue and birds chirped as they gathered around several trees. Business still went on as usual and people continued about their lives. Bulleta and Patty walked together down the street, with the former keeping her distance to not seem awkwardly close to the other girl. There was a silence between the two that Patty didn’t seem to mind much, but Bulleta was mentally tearing herself apart not knowing what to say.

Every time she would turn her eyes to look at the other girl, they would both meet each other’s eyes and Bulleta would immediately turn away with a nervous smile. Patty was the first to break the ice, “So… how did the mission go?” she asked, saying the word ‘mission’ sounded very odd to her as evidenced it being said in a strange way. When she was younger she had never asked much about Dante, Lady or Trish’s missions, since she was always told by them they will tell her when she gets older, much to her annoyance.

“Uhh-” Bulleta stammered a bit, having been broken out of daydreaming. “Well, it went okay, I guess. Didn’t get money in the end, which is kind of bullshit. Also got in a fight with some ants.”

The flaxen haired girl had a bemused expression on her face as she turned her full attention to the blonde. “Ants?” she questioned, hoping to not have been hearing things.

“Heh, yeah, I’m not lying.” she answered with a small chuckle. “Some dork calling himself ‘Ant-Man’ and he apparently could control ants, you wouldn’t believe it.”

“Ahh, I see now. He must be one of those, um, superheroes, right?”

Bulleta let out a scoff and dug her hands inside her pockets. “Yeah. Superheroes.” she said with a slight mocking tone.

“What, you don’t like superheroes?” Patty poked the other girl on the side and smiled.

“Nah. Well, I mean, they’re whatever I guess.” the devil huntress admitted, “It’s just I don’t trust ‘em much. It’s their dangerous powers. Plus, who in the right mind would run around in weird costumes?”

“Wade does!” Patty pointed out with a restrained laugh.

“He’s much more a super weirdo than a superhero.” Bulleta joked and the two shared a laugh together. Despite the comment, she still held much respect for her partner.

“Anyways,” the blonde continued on, “How’d you meet all of ‘em anyway? Looks like you all go way back.”

“Well…” Patty began, “I was only a kid then when I met them all. Dante first, he was hired to protect me from demons. Eventually I met Trish and Lady whenever they would stop by!” she began to smile widely upon remembering the fond memories. “Lady would always play with me and teach me how to play the bass guitar, while Trish took me out to the mall for clothes shopping. Of course it was all on Dante’s tab, don’t tell him though!”

The two girls laughed together once again, Bulleta knowing all about Dante’s financial situation.

“Then a couple years pass and I meet Wade. Him and Dante came into the office at 2 AM, both being completely battered and bruised up, but they both were smiling ear to ear despite their injuries! They both said they had just gotten out of a fight with each other, can you believe that?”

Bulleta went wide eyed, “A fight with eachother? That’d never end...”

“Right? It was the first time they ever met too.” Patty let out a laugh, “But I’m glad they both came out okay in the end. ”

“Must’ve been love at first sight then.” the blonde joked, causing the other girl to giggle and agree.

“They did see something in eachother… even when they both had their blades at the other’s throat.” 

Bulleta bit her lip softly, “Funny thing is, that’s exactly how I met them too.”

Patty looked at the other girl with an unamused pout, “You guys are something else…” she looked elsewhere and immediately beamed. “There’s my favorite cafe!” she pointed out at a store called ‘Little Miss Muffy’s Sweets’ and nearly dragged Bulleta with her inside.

Inside the shop it was colored in various shades of purple and decorated in spider and spider web like designs throughout the walls. The cafe was lined with various booths on the walls and various tables with large chairs designed to appear as if they were covered in webbing. The faint sound of classical music resonated throughout the shop accompanied by small talk from other customers and the various clinking of small tablespoons and teacups.

A young woman with short and curly pastel pink hair smiled at the two girls that had walked in. “Would you two like a booth or a table?” she asked with a warm smile.

“We’ll take a booth, by the window, if that’s okay?” Patty said.

The woman nodded, “Of course! This way, please.” she led the two to their booth that had one of the nicest views in the cafe. After seating them, the woman handed them both their menus and thanked them for coming in and informing them their waitress will soon be with them before leaving.

“I always take this spot so I can see this every time. ” explained Patty while looking outside to see people passing by. She could see the ocean from here and it was sparkling from the sun.

Bulleta took a full moment to admire the view, almost getting lost at the beauty of the sight. A sudden, polite and soothing voice snapped her back to reality. Their waitress was another young woman dressed in a white button up under a light purple vest with dark purple pants. She had dark purple bob cut hair that was nearly black and piercing red eyes. “How can I help you two lovely ladies today?”

“It should be the usual for me, Muffy!” Patty said as she put down her menu, revealing herself to the waitress and owner of the store, Muffy.

“If it isn’t my favorite customer~!” the purple haired woman hummed and pinched the younger girl’s cheek. “We were almost worried you hadn’t came in all day today!”

Patty giggled, “You know I would never miss out on a single day to see you and have one of your delicious sweets!”

“Oh, dearie, you always continue to become more sweeter than the things I bake every passing day~” Muffy complimented with a laugh. She turned her red eyes towards Bulleta, her smile still never changing. “And who would you might be...?”

“You can call me Bulleta.” the devil huntress introduced herself with a small smile and a nod.

“It is always a pleasure to meet one of Patty’s friends.” Muffy winked towards the blonde and giggled. “So, the usual for my dearest Patty. And how about you, Bulleta?”

“I’ll just take a coffee.” Bulleta answered, having looked at most of the menu and decided even one of these treats would completely ruin her diet, despite how delicious each were described.

“Coming right up, dearies~!” Muffy said and took their menus, then left.

The devil huntress raised both of her eyebrows, “Soooo… Muffy, huh?”

“Oh, she’s just an old friend!” Patty explained, “I’ve been coming into her shop since as long as I can remember!”

The blonde only smiled in response and continued looking out the window. The clouds have sided and the sun was at its highest in the sky. She took in the sight and admired every single bit of it. “You know... “ she began, but the other girl had always been paying attention. “Moments like this? They make me really… happy.”

“And why is that, if I may ask?”

“Let’s just say since I had started in this line of work really really early… I never got to enjoy any of life’s little things.” Bulleta admitted, with a small smile that was clearly forced. “Well, not until I met you guys anyway.”

Patty’s hands slid over to hold Bulleta’s, both of their touches being in great contrast. The flaxen haired girl had soft, warm hands, with fingers that gripped snuggly around the other girl’s hand, which was much more roughed up. “No one should ever be alone.” she began with a homely smile. “I’m very glad you found us.”

Hearing this immediately put a much more real smile on the hardened demon huntress’ lips. She wrapped her fingers around the other girl’s hand as well and stared deep into the other girl’s eyes. “Thank you. I am too.”

**To Be Continued...**


	8. Mariana's Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the help of Chuck Greene, Dante and Deadpool's investigation brings them to a top secret maximum security facility deep within Marianas Trench.

In the deepest parts of the ocean, a lone Quinsub travels through its quiet waters. They were shrouded in complete darkness, with the lights from the sub itself barely sufficing for a lightsource. The occasional deep sea creature passed by the sub, despite their appearances being monster-like or even borderline alien, they hadn’t even bothered the sub once.

“I wonder how they taste. Probably like nightmares.” Deadpool commented as he looked on the marine life that passed by the sub. He shivered at the sight of a creature with its only visible features being multiple glowing eyes that surrounded what appeared to be an wide open jaw lined with barbed fangs.

“And I thought you had an ugly mug, Wade.” joked Dante, though he was secretly very interested in each creature they saw.

“This is Queequeg. Approaching drop point.” the pilot of the Quinsub spoke into a radio as he flicked a few switches from a control panel near him.

 _“Roger that. Preparing to open docking bay.”_ a voice on the other end confirmed.

Chuck turned back from his seat to look at the two red clad mercs, “Welcome to Mariana’s Hell.” he said as the Quinsub approached a massive structure that sat on the ocean floor, only being visible due to the lights that decorated its facilities.

The sub entered a docking bay and the reinforced steel doors closed behind it. Water began to flood out back to the ocean outside until the bay was completely dry. The Quinsub’s back hatch opened up and allowed Dante, Deadpool and Chuck to step out.

“Mariana’s Hell. Maximum security prison.” Chuck began his explanation as he lead the way.

Deadpool and Dante looked about to see multiple patrolling heavily armed guards with an advanced form of riot gear. There were multiple unmanned and manned turret guns scanning the area, along with dozens of cameras and floating drones that were armed with a machine gun themselves.

“Look at this place. Maximum might be a _bit_ of an understatement here, pal.” Dante commented.

“You said it!” agreed the Merc with the Mouth.

“This is where the world’s most dangerous individuals are locked up." the B.S.A.A. captain continued on, "It first started out with the guys who were responsible for the Merge and the indirect result of the Galactus Incident, like Dr. Doom and Wesker, but since then we’ve been locking up more and more here.”

“And the reason why it’s deep underwater is if there’s a prison break, if the guards aren’t able to kill them, the intense water pressure outside will?” asked the half demon and the captain confirmed it.

The three approach a checkpoint and two armored guards stood in their way, asking for identification. “Captain Greene, B.S.A.A., with two guests.” Chuck said and he presented his badge and ID to the two guards.

“Welcome back sir.” one of the guards greeted and allowed the three to go through.

A small UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) floated by the three, scanning them for a few minutes. Deadpool lifted up his mask to stick his tongue at the drone and it floated off towards a different direction.

They entered an elevator that led them to the top of a control tower. Multiple personnel were manning computers and scanning screens. “Captain.” a soldier said as he saluted Chuck sharply. “How can we help you today, sir?”

“I’m here with two friends.” Chuck said and nodded towards the two mercs behind him, “We’re here to see Major Redfield.”

“Major Redfield is in the interrogation room.” the soldier explained, “You’d have to address someone else for that though, sir.”

“And that someone would be me.” a woman’s voice said, catching the attention of Chuck and the soldier who immediately saluted. Colonel Jill Valentine walked towards the group and nodded to them. “At ease, soldiers. What is it you need?”

“Ma’am.” Chuck steps aside and allows Deadpool and Dante to step forward. “These two want to question Wesker.”

Jill looked at the two mercenaries with strong, scrutinizing eyes. “We don’t just let anyone question Wesker. Especially when he’s one of the most dangerous inmates we have under containment here.”

“Can it just be for a few minutes, please?” asked Deadpool, earning himself an even sharper glare from the woman. “Um… pretty please?” he managed to get out as he suddenly felt very small against her eyes.

“We were hired by someone who called themselves ‘Wreeks’ on a job to steal some demonic artifact for them. We ran into an unknown group of soldiers and even those bio-monsters you people specialize in. Found out soon ‘Wreeks’ was an anagram for Wesker.” Dante explained carefully which caught Jill’s attention.

“We’ve had a couple dealings with the same unknown task force as well.” the colonel said. “But we already interrogated Wesker countless times for B.O.W. outbreaks around the world and still we have came up with nothing.”

“Except this isn’t about those monsters. This is about demons. Something you people won’t understand.” the half demon explained further.

Jill stepped up close to the devil hunter, “Wesker has been under containment since the Galactus Incident. There’s no way in hell he could have orchestrated that operation. Especially if it has demons involved.” she said the word demon in an almost mocking tone.

Before the tension could cut even deeper, Chuck added in. “But it does seem kinda suspicious. I’ve brought up the possibility of Wesker’s splinter cells being apart of it, which is worth questioning him over it. I can back up these two, ma’am. These guys found the only lead they have and could just very well figure out their mess, atleast.”

“But will it figure out ours?” the colonel asked the captain, not at all changing her tone or glare.

“It can open a path to it.” Chuck said carefully towards his superior officer, “Just give them a chance, ma’am.”

Colonel Valentine stood silently in thought until finally speaking up. “Five minutes. Greene, take these two to the interrogation room to meet up with Redfield, who’ll be the one to take you all to Wesker. I’ll radio the information to Redfield.”

“Thank you ma’am.” the captain saluted and the colonel returned the salute, before walking off.

Deadpool let out an exhale of relief, “That was close one.” he said as he clapped Chuck’s back.

“You’re telling me, buddy.” he chuckled, feeling a bead of sweat pass by his neck. “Thought she was gonna demote me all the way back to a Private right there and then. Let’s just meet up with Chris.”

\---

The three walked down the halls as Chuck further explained what goes on around the facility. “Any superpowered goon that turns out to be too much to handle by regular prisons are sent to an advanced prison. And if they can’t handle them, they are sent to Ryker’s Island. If Ryker’s can’t handle them well, they’re sent here. We’re the last resort when it comes to inmates. Though any other extremely dangerous technology, nuclear or biological weapon are stored here immediately to be frozen and decommissioned until they are safe to be disposed of.”

Deadpool and Dante looked across every cell they passed by with a few familiar faces and many unfamiliar ones. “We have a hundred or so copies of the Yellowjacket suit made by HYDRA. Emil Blonsky, also known as the Abomination. The Ultron A.I., the Super Skrull, various symbiotes and decommissioned Sentinel bots. A few different zombie viruses, active and non active B.O.W.s…”

The half demon spotted a demonic weapon being researched by a group of scientists from behind a glass panel. “You guys even got Devil Arms here too?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah. Plus a couple demonic artifacts like the one you guys were tasked with finding and even live demons like the Red Arremers.” the B.S.A.A. captain explained.

“Think this place can handle keeping demons under control?” Dante asked again as he stared ice cold daggers at the notable devils held within cells.

“Buddy, if we can keep biological monsters and ‘supervillains’ under control, we won’t have a problem with demons.” Chuck refuted to the half demon.

They reached the outside of the interrogation room and heard loud screaming and thrashing from within the room. Major Chris Redfield was seen stepping out of the room and allowing a couple soldiers escort a crazed redheaded man that was held down via straight jacket. Another soldier followed with a large metal container with what appears to be a gooey red substance inside it.

“Oh no way, well if it isn’t Carnage!” Deadpool laughed upon seeing the psychopathic man strapped down and unable to move.

“Deadpool…” Cletus Cassidy, otherwise known as Carnage, growled at the mercenary. “I still ain’t forget what you did to me those years back!” he screamed, attempting to rip out of his straight jacket.

“Aww… I’m glad you remembered~!” the Merc with the Mouth mocked and pinched the redhead’s cheek. “Wasn’t it fun getting your ass kicked up and down around the South, hillbilly boy? Also hearing your girl Shriek _shriek_ in pain when I tricked you into taking her out was hilarious!”

That seemed to strike a nerve on Cletus and he attempted to bite at the mercenary’s finger, ableit poorly. “YOU SON OF A--!”

Chris stepped up with a smirk towards Deadpool, “Careful there, this one’s a biter.”

“Hey Cassidy,” Chuck mockingly greeted, “How’s the black eyes buddy?

“Greene...” the redheaded man said through his teeth, “I’m definitely saving you for last, boy, don’t you forget it!”

“Uh yeah, whatever floats your boat, pal.” the B.S.A.A. captain said and nodded towards the guards, “Get this freak out of here.”

Deadpool waved off as the guards took the symbiote and Cassidy away, who was thrashing about and screaming about revenge. “Y’all take care now, Billy Bo Bill Bob!” the merc mocked in a stereotypical hillbilly accent. He laughed and turned to the other three, “What a frickin’ loser right?”

“You said it.” agreed Chris, “We just found out where the rest of his ‘Carnage Family’ is hiding out and we’re mobilizing units to head in and taken them in, dead or alive.”

“Sweet.” Dante said with his usual smirk.

“I remember when this guy here and Lilith took Carnage out the first time,” the B.S.A.A. major began to explain and nodded towards Chuck. “That was some operation. Still can’t believe you ran up to him and ripped the Carnage symbiote away from Cletus himself! You’re almost as crazy as that lunatic himself!”

Chuck let out a laugh, “Well he did have a more punchable face without the symbiote! Plus I wouldn’t have been able to do that without Lilith raining hell on him at the moment.”

“Right, right.” the major chuckled, then turned his attention to the two red clad mercenaries, lightly jabbing both of them on their chests. “And these guys! Haven’t seen you in a while, how’s it been?”

The half demon clapped his friend’s shoulder and smiled, “Same old same old, man. Last time we saw you, you were a Captain, weren’t you?”

“Yup,” Chris confirmed, “Time sure does fly by fast, doesn’t it fellas?”

“Heck yeah it does!” agreed the Merc with the Mouth “Time needs to chill the frick out! Next thing you know when you blink, it’s already the next year!”

“Just gotta make the best of it, right?” Chuck said and the other three agreed. “Anyways, Major, we were hoping to see Wesker. Dante and Wade asked to question him.”

The B.S.A.A. major’s smile calmed down a bit to a more serious expression, “Got the order from Jill. You picked a lucky day fellas, she never lets anyone see him except herself and me. This way.” he began walking down the corridor with the other three following close.

\---

Somewhere in the skies, a S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet flies through the clouded sky. C. Viper sat on her seat and examined the artifact they had retrieved up and down. It felt strangely heavy for its size and she seemed to have an odd feeling when looking into it.

The woman looked closer at the artifact, she could have sworn she had heard a distant voice calling to her. A sudden voice caught her attention, it was one of her soldiers. “Ma’am?” he asked and noticed her tense expression, “Sorry about that, but…”

“What is it, Elijah?” she asked and placed the artifact back in a holding case. She noted this agent was one of the youngest she had ever seen, evidenced by his appearance and slight nervousness.

“Scanners picked up multiple Uniform Kilos on our six.” the soldier, Elijah, said and led her to the ship’s cockpit.

C. Viper peered into the scanner and saw a number of red blinking dots tailing them. “They’re coming in fast.” she said and looked up at Elijah, “Definitely not friendlies.”

Something caught the attention of her, Elijah and the pilot at the side. There was what appeared to be a human in red armor that had a skull design on its mask with glowing blue eye holes. The armored figure was riding atop of what appeared to be a speeding glider. Soon another appeared at the opposite side of the cockpit. They brandished CQW-05 ‘Chicom’ submachine guns and began opening fire at the Quinjet.

“Just as I said! Evasive action!” C. Viper ordered and her pilot picked up the speed and flew ahead of the gliders. “Tell everyone to get ready.” she told the soldier with her. The soldier nodded and made a grab for his gasmask and XM8 assault rifle. The other few agents followed in unison and prepared their gear as well.

“See if we can lose them. And report it to Command.” C. Viper told her pilot.

“Yes ma’am.” she said and flipped a few switches. She held tightly onto the controls and boosted forward. “Command, this is Pequod, we have multiple confirmed hostiles on our six. Attempting to shake off. Over.”

C. Viper readied her electrified gloves and loaded up a KRISS KARD semi-automatic handgun. Just then the Quinjet began shakingly violently as if it was hit with something heavy. “Status report!” she yelled towards Pequod.

“Left wing hit, explosive damage, ma’am! I can stabilize her but I don’t know if we can take another hit!” Pequod said in a strained voice as she struggled to steer the jet.

“Get on that gun, soldier!” Viper ordered Elijah and he rushed atop a ladder to man turret.

“Shields 48%.” a robotic voice spoke and Pequod opened fire upon any gliders that flew past her view. “Ma’am! Shields won’t be able to hold for too long!” she called towards the agent.

“Did you call for reinforcements?!” Viper demanded.

“Something’s jamming our transmissions!” Pequod said, frantically going back from typing in commands on her side computer to attempt to bypass the jamming, then firing on a glider that passed by. “We’re on our own here!”

C. Viper slammed her fist against the wall. “Dammit!” she looked down at where the artifact was placed and she locked it, tucking it below one of the seats. Another explosion and the jet shook even more, it seemed to have come from the top where she sent the soldier to man the gun.

“We’ve been hit! Near center and gun turret is nonresponsive!” Pequod was heard yelling, but C. Viper was looking up towards the ladder. Her view was blocked by smoke pouring through the turret.

“Elijah?! Are you there, soldier?!” the redheaded woman shouted and all she saw peek out from the smoke was an arm and a gasmask covered face. She saw clearly the young soldier was dead from his lifeless eyes behind the broken lenses. Everything seemed to go silent, even Pequod’s screaming towards her commander.

“Ma’am! Shields are--” the pilot braced herself when the glass to the cockpit broke apart. The gliders jumped in and ripped Pequod out of her seat and threw her out, sending her falling to her death.

“PEQUOD!” C. Viper screamed and opened fire with her handgun at the gliders, taking out most of them. She scrambled to reload her weapon to kill the remaining ones but they had since left. The agent ran towards the controls of the Quinjet and saw that it had been destroyed beyond repair.

She reached for the transmitter and attempted once more to contact S.H.I.E.L.D. “This is Agent Viper! My pilot has been killed and the controls are destroyed! We are going down! I repeat! We are-” receiving only static on the other end, she angrily threw the transmitter aside and held on tight on whatever she could grab.

The jet was spiraling out of control now as it plummeted downwards. “Everyone brace yourselves!” she yelled out to her remaining agents.

**To Be Continued...**


	9. Unreasonable Behavior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After C. Viper's Quinjet crashes violently in an unknown location, the artifact once again falls into the hands of someone with much more cruel intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: there is a scene that includes self harm. feel free to skip the part, it is only a short paragraph or so long.

A small group of crimson armor clad gangsters stood around the wreckage of a Quinjet that had crash landed through a series of abandoned homes. These goons are the Tech Soldiers, personal enforcers of the New York City’s infamous Kingpin of Crime.

“This is a big risk the Kingpin is takin’ here…” one of the armored men said aloud, “I mean, takin’ out some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents is gonna put a price on our heads for sure!”

Another thug snorted out a laugh, “A price that ain’t ever gonna amount to the bucks we getting for this hit. I’d say it was worth every drop of blood spilled.”

A much larger man in heavier armor passed by the two of them, “Don’t waste time talking. We find this artifact and get outta here before the locals ‘round here try to check what all the noise was.”

The two tech soldiers glanced at one another then proceeded to follow their comrade into the crashed jet. Several more gangsters flew around the perimeter on their gliders, watching vigilantly for any person who dared approach the area.

There were a few thugs rummaging through the destroyed insides of the Quinjet. “You think we might’ve hit the wrong jet?” one of the enforcers asked the other as she pushed aside a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent’s dead body to inspect a lower compartment.

“Doubt it. We had scouts made sure this was the one that woman with the red hair boarded.” the goon responded. He rubbed the back of his neck, wondering where could this supposed artifact could have been hidden. “That reminds me… have you seen that woman’s body here?”

C. Viper’s felt a cold sweat pass by her entire person. She was nearly completely buried in rubble that had fallen inside the cockpit, though she had managed to squeeze her way out of most of it. The woman kept nearly silent despite the massive amounts of pain she was enduring, broken glass had left an uncountable amount of cuts on her person and she had a piece of shrapnel lodged into her lower back.

 _I need to get out of here before they find me…_ she told herself mentally over and over as she slowly inched her way towards the front of the cockpit. She was hoping she could slip through the front of the Quinjet and crawl a good distance away from the wreckage. Her thoughts were only focused on survival, having completely forgotten about the artifact.

The agent suddenly felt a sharp pain on her left arm and looked back to see that her arm had been tightly squeezed under some rubble. She tried to pull it out with her free arm but realized it wasn’t going anywhere.

“I’ll check around.” she heard one of the tech soldiers say. “What should I do if I find her alive?”

“Same with the rest. Kill them.”

C. Viper gritted her teeth and balled up her right hand, not caring about the shards of broken glass crushing in between her fingers. She tried once more to pull her left arm out from under the rubble and once again it yielded zero results. Hearing footsteps inch closer to her, she knew she had no choice now. With her free hand, the agent dug inside her suit’s jacket and pulled out a small two handed device that much resembled a cross between a screwdriver and a lighter. It was named the Mouse Hole and it emitted a specialized cutting laser that could slice through anything for a quick getaway, usually steel or concrete.

 _The one time I get to use this and it isn’t for it’s intended purpose..._ the agent cursed herself mentally and exhaled through her nose. She looked at her immobile left arm and back to the Mouse Hole, which was being held over her forearm. With a heavy inhale the woman activated the device and the laser immediately dug through her skin and bone in seconds. Her teeth were clenched hard and her lips sucked in, trying to not let a single noise out of her despite her mind telling her to let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Her own blood continuously gushed out from the wound, creating a puddle that only grew larger in size each second. She let out a near quiet exhale once she had finished slicing her forearm off and despite the pain being much more worse, she knew she had a chance of escape. Knowing she can’t afford to lose anymore blood now, the agent wasted no time abandoning her device and crawling towards a small enough hole within the front of the cockpit that allowed her escape.

She was nearly in tears while attempting to crawl with only one arm, not wanting to look at her self induced amputation. The agent managed to squeeze out of the crawl space and onto the sharp, pebble covered floor, just escaping the eyes of the soldier that was sent to inspect the cockpit. C. Viper struggled immensely as she slowly inched her way to another grouping of rubble, hoping to hide behind it until the enemy had left the area. Her thoughts were being clouded and her eyes were slowly shutting themselves despite her best efforts to keep them open.

_I have to get out… for my babygirl... for Lauren... I have to g… for Laure... I have to… I… Lauren..._

The sound of gunfire and screaming from the wreckage hadn’t even registered to her.

“Go! Get the artifact to the boss!” one of the Tech Soldiers called out before a strange red aura spun around his body and forcefully slammed him against the inside of the downed Quinjet repeatedly until he had stopped screaming.

A Tech Soldier gripped tightly onto the suitcase that she had found the artifact in. “Hey! Hey! Don’t forget about me!” she screamed out to one of her comrades that rode a glider, who was reaching out to her in turn.

Suddenly, the gangster heard a noise similar to a speeding train. Before her body even registered the pain, she was hit hard enough to be flung towards the top of a tall tree and impaled in its branches. The case opened up and the artifact flew out of it, striking the ground hard. It glew a strange purple color for a moment before being picked up again.

“What the fuck is doing that?!” a soldier demanded as he aimed his weapon frantically.

“I can’t see it!”

“Just keep firing!”

A thug ran back towards her glider, the artifact having been returned its case. “We’re pulling out! Let’s move!” she ordered and activated the glider, flying off away from the area.

Several other gliders made their escape with no regard for the few Tech Soldiers that were left behind. The remaining gangsters were one by one ripped apart by the strange red aura or a speeding blue wind that collided with each one with bone shattering force. Eventually, nothing but the sound of howling wind remained.

_Mommy's... not coming... home... I-... I'm sorry Lauren..._

The last thing C. Viper heard before she completely blacked out was two voices speaking over her in a language she didn’t recognize. 

\---

A figure stood infront of wide double doors with the name _‘Wilson Fisk’_ embroidered in golden letters on both doors. They were dressed in a leather black coat over a charcoal colored suit, with their burgundy red hair slicked back and dark sunglasses concealing their eyes. Two armed people stood behind them, dressed in standard combat gear with their facial features hidden by gasmasks and helmets. All of them had a unit patch resembling the top of a black and white umbrella somewhere noticeable on their person.

“Are we ready?” the figure asked their two guards and the two responded with a quiet nod. With that, the figure pushed open the double doors gracefully and allowed themselves in.

They entered a large, blue office that had neon purple accents that decorated several points of the interior walls. There were two men in black suits that stood on opposite ends of the room, not at all giving notice to the three that had just entered. Infront of the massive windows of the office stood the shadow of a hulking figure. A puff of smoke emitted from the figure after they had inhaled from their cigar.

“Albert Wesker.” the figure calmly greeted in a deep, booming voice that could be heard throughout the entire office. Turning around and stepping into the light, revealed an imposing African-American man dressed in a fresh white suit over a purple dress shirt.

This was Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime. His mouth grew into a toothy smile after taking in another puff from his cigar. “I been expectin’ you.” He said as he walked towards his guest, with the mild support of a black cane that contained a large diamond at the top.

“New York City isn’t exactly in the neighborhood for me.” Wesker stated.

The Kingpin let out a deep chuckle, looking at the two of his guards who seemed a tiny bit nervous. “Then we’ll try to be neighborly,” he continued walking towards Wesker and stood over them by a large amount. “You’s alot younger than I heard about.” he commented upon closely examining his guest.

“Where’s the artifact?” Wesker asked in a cold voice, completely passing over the comment.

The Kingpin’s smile faded away mostly, leaving behind only a smug smirk. He puffed on his cigar and snapped his fingers, signalling one of his guards to slide open a secret button that had been hidden inside the wall. With a press of a button, the wall slowly opened up and caught the attention of his guests.

It appeared to be a type of small trophy room, starting with a single dead rose, two sais with red cloth wrapped around their grips, a ripped black shirt that had a skull symbol within it, a crimson red mask that had tiny horns atop, and finally the artifact. A guard picked up the artifact carefully and handed it to his boss, who swiped it and held it infront of him. “You’s doin’ an awful lot for this lil ol’ thing, boy.”

Wesker raised their arm to reach for the artifact but the Kingpin held it a bit higher. The criminal mastermind could’ve sworn he saw a small glow of blue from beneath his guest’s sunglasses, but it hadn’t intimidated him one bit. “It ain’t no exchange without your gift as well.”

Turning towards one of their own soldiers, Wesker was handed a folder that was completely overfilled with papers. They held it out to the larger man, who’s toothy smile returned upon seeing the folder. “A complete list of notable governors all over the world and how to have them under your control. With this, your criminal empire will be able to reach even farther than New York, even beyond America.” they said as the Kingpin nodded over to one of his other guards who took the folder and opened it.

The guard’s face showed notable change in expression upon viewing the contents within. He looked over towards his towering boss and nodded in confirmation, then closed it.

“Now the artifact--”

“Now, now, Wesker…” the Kingpin interrupted them as he turned around and walked back towards his window. “You’s my guest. I ain’t no type a man to cheat you out on this partnership. I openly welcome this gift and all but…” he rubbed his thumb over the smooth black emerald in the center of the artifact. “I hear this lil ol’ thing been in many hands these past days. Mercenaries, scientists, them S.H.I.E.L.D. folk, collectors, historians, devil slayers…” he turned his head towards his guests. “Word ‘round is that someone even put up a handsome reward of $1,000,000 for it.

Wesker remained stone faced, though their patience had been slowly dwindling the more the Kingpin wasted time.

“I lost me some good ass men and women when they was out takin’ this from that S.H.I.E.L.D. jet…” the crime lord said, clearly remembering the report his Tech Soldiers had given him after they had returned. “If you ain’t mind a bit, what makes this museum piece here so important everybody out here to try and get it themselves?”

A few seconds of silence pass by and Wesker decided if it was to end this quickly, they would explain it. “Inside that emerald is said to hold outstanding amounts of power… in the form of an entire legion of demons. Legend says that one could control this legion if they had the correct intentions and mindset. Most of those people you had listed don’t even know that, they merely write it off as another piece of junk, unfortunately.”

The Kingpin guffawed at the explanation he had received, unsure if he had even heard it correctly. “Wesker, Wesker. Ain’t you a man of science? When did all this fairy land talk ever peek your interest?”” he said after his laughter died down, then turning his attention back to the artifact.

**_Power…_ _outstanding_ ** _amounts of **power…**_

Wesker’s brows furrowed, they had noticed something odd about the crime boss’ demeanour. “Mr. Fisk.” they said, trying to catch his attention. They slowly walked towards him and his guards dug within their suit jackets for their weapons, only for them to be killed in mere seconds by Wesker’s own soldiers.

_Release us. **Release us.**_ **_RELEASE US._**

_We can give you **all the power** you **want.**_

_You can be a **true Kingpin** over this **human realm** with our help._

The Kingpin hands slowly felt over the artifact as the voices slowly grew louder and louder, demanding and thrashing to be let out. His fingers locked around the artifact and he twisted it, the emerald suddenly emitting a purple light that enveloped the crime lord. He hadn’t even heard Wesker’s screams aimed towards him as the light suddenly became a large flash that blinded everyone within the room.

The office was suddenly consumed by the never ending screams of many lost voices as hundreds upon hundreds of demons crawled out of the artifact and flew wildly around room. Most of the devils phased through the office and entered many other rooms, which resulted in only the blood curdling screaming of Kingpin’s personnel. Two goblin-like demons immediately lunged towards Wesker and with a light blue colored distortion in reality, they suddenly disappeared. The demons struck at the floor and upon realizing the human they had attacked wasn’t a bloody mess inbetween their claws, they turned around to see the same human behind them.

Wesker gripped both hands around the necks of the demons and smashed both of their heads in together. They heaved both of the bodies out the window, sending their lifeless corpses spiraling downwards as they slowly faded to dust. “We’re leaving.” they ordered firmly as they walked past their two soldiers firing upon any demons that approached them.

“No backup, M?” one of their soldiers asked as she jabbed the barrel of her FN SCAR assault rifle into a demon’s eyesocket and fired, splattering its brain matter in the other direction.

The other soldier attempted to open the double doors but realized the demons had cast a spell that had locked it permanently, as evidenced by the ghastly faces the screamed at him when he tried to grab the doorknob. “We’d need some air support to get out of this one…” he said aloud, quickly backing away from the ghostly limbs that reached for him.

Wesker removed the umbrella-like unit patch from their person and their two soldiers did the same. The soldiers threw the patches down on the floor and awaited their orders.

“There’s no need for either. Plus, the artifact has been compromised, I wouldn’t want to waste manpower on retrieving something that had become useless now.” Wesker answered and looked back for a moment to see the Kingpin’s body laying on the cold marble floor, his hand no longer firmly gripping the artifact that still continued to release demons from its emerald. “With all this mess, it’ll catch the attention of everyone.” they held out a single hand towards their soldiers. “It’s back to the shadows, again.”

“Yes, M.” both of their soldiers said and held onto their commander’s hand. In an instant, they disappeared through the same slight blue distortion in reality.

\---

“Major Redfield! Major Redfield!” a soldier was heard calling out, having caught the attention of the major.

“What’s wrong, soldier?” Chris asked with a single eyebrow raised.

“Scouts and drones patrolling New York City has spotted Wesker!” the soldier said and opened up a holographic image showing an images of a figure in a long black coat, then another showing a side view image that revealed Wesker’s face.

The B.S.A.A. major’s eyes opened up wide upon seeing the images, “Secure the perimeter! We’re going on lockdown and alert Colonel Valentine!” he ordered and the soldier ran to do their duties. He looked over to the other three men with him as he loaded up his 909 ‘Nine-Oh-Nine’ handgun, “Let’s go. Be ready for anything.”

“Oh boy, here we go.” Chuck murmured to himself as he readied his pistol.

“Lead the way, Chris.” said Dante after he pulled out his twin handguns, with Deadpool doing the same.

The four men sprinted down the corridors, with Chris on point and doing multiple turns into different hallways. They passed by many soldiers rushing around the area, either gearing up or moving in to ready themselves for battle. The four finally reached the final hallway that was empty for an odd reason. The major mentally made a note to himself to give extreme discipline to whoever had abandoned their posts and allowed Wesker to escape.

“Come on!” the major shouted as he passed a keycard over the panel but it continued to result in nothing. Dante let out a small exhale and kicked down the door himself, running into the fray first with his weapons trained on…

“What the hell?”

Albert Wesker and Victor Von Doom were staring back at the half demon with disgruntled looks across their faces. They immediately turned their attention back to the television that appeared to be playing a fighting based video game, with the sound of controllers being mashed heard from their position.

“I’m not paying for that.” Albert said offhandedly, then realized he was losing in the game. “Victor! How dare you acquire cheap hits on me while I was looking back!”

Dr. Doom let out a confident laugh from under his metallic mask. “Doom does not believe in these ‘cheap hits.’ Only in freebies.”

Despite being in full prison jumpsuits, they had managed to keep their specific items of personal interest. Namely Albert kept his sunglasses and Dr. Doom still had his mask, plus the hoodie of his jumpsuit pulled up over most of his head to emulate what his green cloak had used to do.

Chris stepped in with Chuck and Deadpool, becoming as equally confused as Dante. “Wesker?”

“Chris…” Albert growled through his teeth, “Can’t you go five minutes without shoving your roach-like mug around my Godly presence?”

A soldier came in after the four, breathing heavily, apparently he had been chasing them throughout the entire facility. “Major Redfield… the report we got about Wesker…” he tried saying through deep breaths. “Well… we didn’t check if Wesker himself was actually still in his cell...”

“Of course Wesker remains in his cell!” Dr. Doom exclaimed, but not at all removing his eyes from the game. “If he had gone missing, Doom surely would have been throwing a celebration by now,” he shoved the man next to him with his elbow, “A celebration sounds rather amusing, does it not? Wesker! Doom _demands_ you go missing at this very moment!”

“Go to hell, Victor.”

"Doom has already went to Hell! Saved Doom's mother while he was at it as well!"

Chris glared at the soldier, “So it was false information? I know Wesker when I see him though... show me the pictures again.”

The soldier fumbled around for a device and maximized the holographic images for his superior officer to see. Chris and Chuck closely examined the images, while Dante and Deadpool stood behind the couch Wesker and Dr. Doom sat at and watched closely on their game.

“Oooh, Doom, you lookin’ pretty _doomed_ there, man!” Deadpool quipped as he bounced excitedly at the hype of the fighting game.

“Doom shall never lose!” Dr. Doom proudly proclaimed, “Especially to a man who is an avid cosplayer of the movie Matrix!”

“Like the man who wears a green dress and hides his disgusting face behind a discount store knight mask is any better.” Albert was quick to retort, his teeth clenching as his fingers pressed rapidly on the buttons.

“C’mon Wesker step it up!” taunted Dante as he crossed his arms together. “You ain’t gonna let this loser beat you, right?”

“I would rather burn in lava than allow this bumbling fool beat me at a video game…” the mad scientist mumbled to himself.

The Merc with the Mouth hopped over the couch and sat on the couch’s arm rest next to Dr. Doom. “Yo, whoever loses, I get the controller from them!”

“Then be ready to take the controller from Neo here, for Doom shall reign triumphant!”

“Enhance the area around their face.” ordered Chris to the soldier, who did as he was told. The image began to slowly clear up around the supposed ‘Wesker’ and it turned out to be someone who did have some resemblance to Albert, but was clearly a different person.

“Who the hell is that?” asked Chuck, looking bewildered at the person in the image.

Albert overheard the conversations behind him and decided to take a look for a moment, only to be interrupted by the howls of the other three next to him. He had lost the game the moment he took his eyes off the screen, much to his disappointment, though what he thought he saw in the image was far more important than a video game.

“Wesker owes Doom another condo now.” Dr. Doom said and tossed the controller over to Deadpool. “And soon, you, shall as well!”

“Yeah yeah, keep talkin’ Green Riding Hood!” the mercenary retorted and created a talking motion with his free hand. “You’ll be eating those words soon! Words inside taco shells! While I’ll have normal tacos since I hear words are kinda unhealthy for you!”

Albert stood up from his couch and Dante wasted no time to hop over and steal his seat. He slowly walked towards the holographic image, taking off his sunglasses to reveal his glowing red cat-like eyes that glared sharply at the person in the image.

_Well if it isn’t my dear old sibling._

**To Be Continued...**


	10. Speak Of The Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Albert Wesker reveals something shocking to Chris Redfield and Chuck Greene, the Kingpin's tower continues to be overtaken by demons. Chris employs the assistance of Dante and Deadpool to exterminate the demonic hordes.

Major Redfield stepped up to meet Albert’s eyes, “What did you say?” Both men were glaring daggers into eachother

“Chris, I am aware of the steroids you drown yourself in shrink your mind to a molecular level, and several _other_ things get shrunk as well, but please do try to keep up.” Albert retorted, a smug grin growing on his face when he noticed a vein on the side of his rival’s head grow. “Like I said… they’re my sibling.”

“So your brother? Sister?”

“Incorrect again you baboon. Pay attention.” the mad scientist said with a click of his tongue. “ _They_ are my _sibling._ Alexis Wesker.”

Chuck joined in the conversation upon hearing the reveal, “There’s another Wesker?”

“There were many of us. All children part of Project W, a eugenics project created by a man named Spencer. The goal of it was to create a new breed of advanced humans, but it failed, with most of us ending up dead or missing.” Albert turned his attention back to the holographic image of his sibling. “Me and Alexis, or Alex, as they preferred, are the only ones left.”

“We have a drone’s video recording of what happened before we captured the picture of this Wesker.” the soldier said and pressed a few buttons on the device, which switched the picture to a video.

The video showed a man in a white suit and Alex Wesker within an office of a building that read ‘Fisk Corp.’ This time, Dante stood up from the couch to check out the commotion as well.

"I see they are doing an interesting job impersonating me..." Albert whispered under his breath as he watched his sibling in the recording. He only felt a slight hint of resentment for that stunt they pulled.

The half demon noticed what the man in the white suit was holding in his hand, “Hey, that’s the artifact!” he pointed out to Chuck. “C. Viper was supposed to get that back to S.H.I.E.L.D… what the hell is it doing with that guy?”

“That _‘guy,’_ I believe, is Wilson Fisk, mostly known as the Kingpin.” Albert corrected.

“The Kingpin?” repeated Deadpool from the couch, though he was only half paying attention to the conversation behind him. “What’s Moby Dick want with the artifact?”

Dante’s white brows furrowed when the video suddenly cut to the Kingpin, lying on the ground, with the artifact releasing a horde of demonic apparitions and creatures. He turned his eyes to Chuck, who had shared the same look on his face as well.

The video continued on until a strange shadow consumed the drone, resulting in static for the remainder of the video. “We lost connection with the UAV as soon as the demons appeared. Our scouts say the entire tower has already been compromised.” the soldier explained as he turned off the device and returned it to his belt. “What are your orders, sir?” he asked towards Chris.

Albert quietly walked away and returned to his seat on the couch, looking as if he were deep in thought.

“Hey, I know that look on your face.” Dante began, reading Chris’ face perfectly. “That’s the face of a man who doesn’t wanna send any of his troops into a nightmare scenario they might not come back from.” he let his red hot smirk return to his lips and he pointed his thumb back towards himself. “Let me and Wade go in there. We’ll clean up that little mess in seconds.”

“It’s also a face of a man who doesn’t want to send his friends in there either.” the B.S.A.A. major added. “But if you two are up for it…”

“Of course we’re up for it!” the half demon turned over to his partner in crime, “Right Wade?”

“Yes, that’s my name.” Deadpool responded quickly, not at all aware of what they were talking about.

“Alright, but on one condition.” Chris turned his head to Chuck and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I want atleast some military presence in there. Captain Greene, I know this looks like a dangerous situation, but you don’t have to-”

“I’ll do it.” the captain quickly answered, causing the other man to smile. “And wherever I’m going, I know Lilith would want in too. Especially if there’s demons involved.”

“Then it’s settled. Gear up and move out!” the major ordered, then turned to the soldier. “I want units to set up a perimeter around the area of the tower. I don’t want a single one of those monsters to get out and pour into the streets.”

“Yes sir!” the soldier saluted and exited the room in a sprint.

“Welp. Time to get to work.” said Deadpool, in a calm manner. It was immediately followed by Dr. Doom screaming in disbelief upon being beaten in the game by him. “Nice game, Doc! I expect a full army of Deadpool-Bots by my desk tomorrow morning!” he laughed and tossed the controller back to Albert.

“Doom was beaten by a simpleton…” Dr. Doom muttered to himself, wide eyes behind his steel mask.

Chuck looked at both of the red clad mercenaries with a smirk, “You guys ready?”

“You know it, pal.” Dante nodded and was the first to make his way to the exit.

“A word of advice, gentlemen.” Albert finally spoke up, catching their attention. “If you do so happen to cross paths with my sibling. I suggest you apprehend them alive as soon as you can.” he turned to them with his red eyes glowing behind his dark sunglasses. “Because I am far aware none of you have the slightest chance of taking them in dead…” he said in a cold tone, before turning back towards the television.

The four stared hard at the mad scientist before leaving the room, a replacement enforced door closing in behind them.

\---

Back in the docking bay, Chuck, Deadpool, and Dante were rushing back towards the Quinsub. “Queequeg, set course for New York City!” the captain ordered and the pilot immediately complied, sending a message towards the control tower.

Water flooded back into the bay and the reinforced doors open once again. Colonel Valentine and Major Redfield watched from the control tower as the Quinsub made its way out and back into the ocean’s darkness.

“At top speed, we should reach New York City in approximately less than an hour, sir.” Queequeg reported to Chuck, “Units are already on standby around the tower to prevent any civilian casualty or demon outbreak.”

“Good. Keep us on course.” the captain confirmed and walked back to the two mercenaries. “I’ve sent a message to my partner, Lilith, she should be able to--” he was interrupted when a flash of red appeared right infront of him.

“Speak of a devil and she shall appear!” a young woman said in a soft Scottish accent, rather proudly, after appearing from the flash. This was Lilith Aensland, the ‘younger sister’ of the powerful noble succubus demon known as Morrigan Aensland. In reality, Lilith was a portion of Morrigan’s power that had gained a conscience and will of her own. Her short lavender hair that usually reached her ears was put into a small ponytail, and her usual succubus attire had been replaced with the B.S.A.A. uniform, albeit with her own personalized colors of navy blue and blood red. The wings that usually appeared on her head and lower back were hidden with a simple magic spell, leaving many of her comrades to believe her to be simply another human.

Chuck had a large smile on his face, mirroring Lilith’s own. The two immediately closed together in a tight hug and were laughing with one another. Deadpool and Dante shared a glance and a short chuckle upon seeing the scene infront of them. Even Queequeg took a look back to his superior officers and a grin appeared on his face, before resuming his piloting duties.

The two broke off from their hug, with the succubus’ face having turned into a slight shade of red and the motocrosser letting out a few fake coughs. “Well, uh, Lilith.” he addressed his partner with a smile and looked at his two friends, “This is Dante and Wade. Dante, Wade, my partner, First Lieutenant Lilith Aensland.”

“Hello, nice to meet you both!” Lilith greeted with a small wave, “I’ve heard alot of things from Chuck about you two, mostly good things, so don’t worry!”

“Well Chuck, didn’t know you were a big fan.” Dante said, making himself and the succubus laugh, while her partner rolled his eyes with a grin. “Anyways, nice to meet you too. Morrigan’s told me about you once or twice.”

Lilith perked up curiously, “Oh?”

“She said ‘I miss my dear sister very much, lads!’” Deadpool added, with a phony Scottish accent as an attempt to mimic Morrigan’s speech. He, too, made the sergeant giggle and he stood up proudly and shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure, really! I never thought I’d meet a real life anime character, so I am very very very--”

Dante pulled his partner away by wrapping him in a chokehold, “Wade’s a bit of a weirdo, ain’t ya pal?” he said and rubbed his knuckles on the merc’s head.

“Ow! Ow! Not the noogie!” cried out Deadpool in protest as he tried to release himself from the half demon’s grip. The two B.S.A.A. soldiers were now laughing at the two’s display of friendship.

“So,” Lilith began and turned towards her partner. “What was the mission?”

“I’ll explain it with the ship’s computer, come on.” he said and the two walked towards the cockpit, both politely greeting their pilot.

The white haired devil hunter released the Merc with the Mouth as soon as he heard his cellphone ringing. He pulled it out from his coat and answered it, “What’s up, Trish?”

_“Dante, we just found out what the artifact is. And by we I mean, me, since Lady fell asleep when I tried explaining to her the science of the artifact. Anyways, it’s actually a--”_

“Prison containing a shipload of demons, right?”

_“Ah… yes, actually. How did you--”_

“Simple. Saw a video of it in action.” the half demon said with a smirk. He could just see the demoness pinching the bridge of her nose right now.

 _“Wait,”_ Trish suddenly realized what he had meant, _“It’s been activated?!”_

“It’s all good, Trish.” he assured her quickly “We’re going in right now to fix it.”

_“Alright, alright, that was quick. What’s really bothering me is Lady mentioned to me the tour guide her and Red followed around actually said an on point description of the artifact’s real power… how could he have known?”_

Dante shrugged, despite not even being in the same room as the woman. “Lucky guess?”

 _“Can’t be. He has to have some connections to that strike force, or maybe even a completely different party.”_ she was heard shouting much farther from the phone’s receiver. _“Lady! Wake up!”_ she yelled and it was followed by the devil huntress’ frightened yelp. _“We’re going back to the museum and finding that tour guide you talked about.”_

Lady’s voice was distant but it could be clearly heard. _“But do we have to? I just woke up!”_ she whined, almost sounding like a child.

 _“Yes, get your shit together and let’s move before this chance gets blown.”_ Trish ordered sternly before returning to the phone. _“Anyways, Dante--”_

“Heard it.”

_“... I’ll just call you back if we find that guide and get some answers out of him. Good luck.”_

The half demon smirked, “Won’t need luck. Seeya.”

\---

The Quinjet zoomed through the skyscrapers of New York City and eventually slowed down to a much reasonable speed upon spotting their target location in view. “Approaching Fisk Corp Tower.” Queequeg informed his passengers, “It’s looking like hell, sir.”

Chuck stepped into the cockpit and took a look himself, with Lilith right by his side. The tower was completely thrashed in every inch of its outer walls, with windows being shattered or large sections of the building itself having been destroyed or forcefully removed. What was once a shining silver white building had been replaced with a strange black and purple aura fading in and out around the building.

“Think you can handle this, Chucky?” asked Dante as he stepped in with Deadpool.

“Trust me. I know my way around a demon or two.” Chuck said with a grin.

“Get us on the rooftop.” Lilith ordered, “The sooner we get to the artifact, the sooner we can end this.” she was the only one in the group that had any information on the artifact, so she knew how exactly how to deal with this situation. She just wished she had known earlier.

“Yes, ma’am.” Queequeg flew the Quinjet closer towards the roof. An alert noise was playing from control panel and he glanced at it, before looking back outside. “Several speeding targets approaching our position!”

It was several of Kingpin’s Tech Soldiers riding on gliders, but their helmets were missing and revealing monstrous faces instead.

“Those are Kingpin’s men.. but they’ve been possessed by demons!” the B.S.A.A. captain said, “Try to take them out but keep on course for that rooftop!”

“Roger that!” Queequeg quickly maneuvered past the demons and shot down any that had appeared in his sights. They were seconds away from the rooftop, “Approaching LZ, prepare for forced landing!”

Suddenly, hulking demons that resembled four armed humanoids with a large fanged mouth that covered most of its face, materialized into view from portals on the rooftop. The devils immediately rushed the Quinjet and hitched a ride on it, throwing the jet out of control. One of the demons crawled on the cockpit and punched right through the glass, attempting to grab the five that were inside.

Queequeg jerked his head out of a claw swipe just in time, but his shoulder down to his arm wasn’t as lucky as the claws dug into it and left several large wounds on him. He let out a scream and Lilith was forced to make a grab for the controls as soon as he lost his grip on them. Dante brandished Ebony and Ivory and fired at the demon that was on the cockpit, the bullets ripping right through the devil’s body and sending it spiraling towards the ground.

Chuck pulled the pilot out of his seat and back further to a safer location. He made a grab for a medical kit and struggled to perform first aid on him in the thrashing jet. “Try to get this thing back in control!”

“I’m trying!” Lilith said in a strain, gripping hard on the joystick that controlled the jet. “But those demons are ripping apart the Quinjet!” she saw the increasingly worrying damage report on the screen next to her. “There’s one directly above us!”

Dante looked up and fired upwards rapidly, trying to decipher where exactly the demon was. While his partner did this, Deadpool readied his assault rifle and fired upon any devil that tried to crawl into the cockpit. “No! Go away! I will not accept Satan as my lord and savior!” he exclaimed and brandished his M1911 handgun to finish off another demon.

More of the demons that rid gliders attacked the already out of control Quinjet and causing further damage. “We’ve reached critical damage! We have to get out of here!” Lilith shouted out, she had released the controls after it had began to become completely unresponsive.

The jet was in free fall now as it plummeted downwards. The soldiers that saw this all scrambled around in different directions to avoid the crashing Quinjet. Lilith’s bat-like wings appeared from her back and head once again and she flew out from the cockpit.

“What a nice girl! Leaving us to die and all, right?!” Deadpool shouted towards Chuck, who was still attempting to administer first aid to Queequeg who appeared to be hanging onto the last strands of his life.

They felt their descent suddenly decrease in speed and hadn’t realized Lilith was right below the jet, attempting to stop it from crashing into the units below. She spotted several of the glider demons speeding towards her and without much thought, she threw the jet several meters above her. The succubus’ wings transformed into barbed harpoons that homed in on each demon and impaled them one by one, effectively killing them. Lilith’s wings returned to their original form and she caught the Quinjet again. She was slowing its free fall as she steadily came closer and closer to the ground.

“That’s First Lieutenant Aensland!” a soldier pointed out.

“How is she doing that?”

“Quit talking and take out the Geeks aiming for her, now!”

The B.S.A.A. and S.H.I.E.L.D. units began opening fire at the other glider demons that appeared from the sky, effectively distracting them from the succubus. Lilith boots touched down on the street floor and with her teeth grit and muscles aching, she slowly slid the Quinjet down safely on the ground. She released an exhale of relief and forcefully opened the back hatch to allow her friends to get out.

“As always, Lilith, you save the day.” Chuck said thankfully as he carried Queequeg over his shoulder.

“The day’s not over yet,” she said and looked about the glider demons flying about the area. “We still have to take care of these things!”

Dante and Deadpool rushed out of the Quinjet, both having wild, toothy grins on their faces. They were clearly excited about finally getting to be a part of the action. The two immediately opened fire at the flying demons, taking them all out with pinpoint accuracy much to the amazement of the soldiers who had been struggling beforehand. They had cleared the area for now and Chuck called for a medic to take care of Queequeg.

Two medics ran in with a stretcher and Lilith assisted Chuck in laying the pilot gently down on the stretcher. Before they left, Queequeg gripped the hand of the B.S.A.A. captain with his uninjured arm. “T-Thank you… to the both of you…” he thanked weakly.

“Don’t mention it...” Lilith rested a hand on the pilot’s chest. “You did good today, you can rest now.”

“See you soon, Queequeg.” said Chuck as he released his pilot’s hand and allowed him to be taken to medical care. The motocrosser then turned his attention towards the tower that stood infront of him, a sharp glare having replaced his soft look. He slung out his SPAS-12 shotgun and pumped it once, “We ready?” he asked the others and Lilith nodded in agreement, pulling out her KRISS Vector submachine gun.

“Been ready.” Dante said as he cracked his neck and gripped hard on both of his twin handguns.

“Then let’s kick their demonic booties back to hell!” exclaimed Deadpool and the four ran into the building's entrance.

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: lilith aensland, from the darkstalkers series. 
> 
> this is only a tiny detail but: about alex wesker. it has only been last year now that capcom has suddenly made a full character about them. but years back they had tiny references and passing mentions in resident evil lore, they weren't a full character yet. so during that time, when i was writing the old red scare that was at ff.net i had to create my own version of alex wesker. in the end, i decided not to use the version capcom has created and keep using my rendition of the character instead for consistency and creative freedom.


	11. To The Top

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante and Deadpool storm the Kingpin's demon infested tower with the assistance of Chuck Greene and Lilith Aensland.

The doors into the office were kicked wide open, striking an unlucky demon across the room. “QUEEQUEG, MOTHERFUCKERS!” The Merc with the Mouth shouted at the top of his lungs as he and the other three rained a storm of bullets and magic at every single devil in their sights. He made sure they would hear and remember the name of the brave pilot they nearly killed in the final seconds of life.

Lilith’s wings had transformed into blood red jet boosters and launched herself at another one of the hulking, four armed, demons. With a battle cry, she landed an airborne, magic fueled roundhouse kick that twisted its head completely around that was accompanied by a loud cracking noise. She kicked her legs off its limp body and used it to boost herself once more towards the ground. The succubus struck at the floor with a hard fist and summoned a horde of large magical bat skulls that emerged from the ground and dug their jaws around entire bodies of several lesser demons.

While his partner had dealt with the enemy in flashier, but effective ways, Chuck reserved to keeping a fine line between himself and any demon that approached him with his shotgun. He was only human after all and lacked a regenerative ability Deadpool had, one wrong move and the man would be lying dead on the floor or even worse: possessed. The B.S.A.A. captain grit his teeth and fired his weapon at a howling animalistic demon that had attempted to pounce him. He discharged another shell into the twitching creature to ensure it wouldn’t be getting back up.

“Gotta reload!” Chuck called out quickly as he retrieved shells from his combat vest. Deadpool stepped in front of him with his M4 carbine raise and quickly dispatched any demon that ran at them with clean headshots.

“Look at these guys, with all their magic and crap, lookin' like frickin' Dumbledore or some shit!” the Merc with the Mouth pointed out to the half demon and the succubus obliterating anything in their path. “Us non magic guys gotta stick together ri--” he ducked down immediately when Chuck had aimed his shotgun at him and fired after he was out of the way. “Whoa, watch it!”

The motocrosser managed to blast away a demon that was not noticed by Deadpool. The mercenary looked over at the dead body of the beast and chuckled meekly, “You were saying, buddy?” asked Chuck with a grin and he moved on forward after they all had cleared out the first office.

“How many floors does this place have?” asked Dante aloud. He casually fired another bullet from Ivory into the skull of a goblin-like demon that had been ripped in half from one of Lilith’s attacks.

“100 exactly,” answered the succubus as she inspected a dead body of a human slumped against the wall. “But we won’t have to clear out every single floor. Like I said before if we get to that artifact we can lock every demon back inside it.” she stood back up and rechecked her submachine gun.

Deadpool tapped at a button to summon the elevator but it was unresponsive. “Oh, now you're just pushing my buttons. I’ll show you!” he said to the control panel and brandished his handgun. He fired off one shot and it immediately ricocheted back to his hand. He let out a yelp and dropped his pistol, bouncing around as he seethed in pain.

The motocrosser shook his head and removed the panel, observing the wiring inside. “Damage doesn’t look too bad. I think I could fix this up and get the elevator down here in no time.” he said and began fiddling with the insides of the control panel.

They four heard a distant screaming from down the hall of the office. The group shared a series of looks with eachother before Lilith finally spoke up, “There must be survivors! I’ll go take a look.”

Chuck nearly got up upon hearing this, “Hey, hold on, I’ll go with you--”

“Nope.” she quickly dismissed her partner, who froze in place. “You still gotta work on that, right? It’s okay, I’ll just take Dante with me. We won’t be long!”

The motocrosser’s grey-blue eyes stared into her scarlet eyes and he nodded. “Okay. If you two need backup, me and Wade will be right here.”

“No worries, Chucky.” the white haired half demon assured his friend with a pat on the back. “We’ll be back in a sec.”

Chuck watched the two walk down the hallway and once they were out of sight he returned to fixing the panel.

“You worry too much, man! Everyone knows main characters have plot armor, so she's fine!” Deadpool assured, propping himself against the wall near where his friend worked. “If you keep that up, you’ll be gettin’ wrinkles in no time!”

“Heh. I hope not.” the captain chuckled. “My daughter said she found a grey hair on me and I barely hit mid 20’s!”

\---

Dante and Lilith walked down the hall searching for where the scream had originated from. The half demon noticed the succubus was on the alert, compared to his more laid back attitude. Her eyes were constantly darting from each room they passed by and her fingers tapping against the submachine gun that hung from her hip.

“So any reasons you use human guns, Lil?” he broke the ice, noticing her alertness calming down a bit once he had begun conversation. “You’re pretty powerful enough. Hell, you wouldn’t even need a special customized one like me or Wade.”

Lilith grinned a bit at the nickname the man had given her, then decided on answering his question. “Makes things more interesting. I like to challenge myself sometimes.”

“Hey me too, bud.” the half demon said with a smirk. “Never thought you’d join a military unit though, what helped you make that decision?”

“Well…” the lavender haired demoness pondered thoughtfully. “I was bored, honestly!” she finally answered with a slightly nervous laugh. “You know how we succubus are. Live in the moment, finding whatever interesting to pass the time.”

“With that logic, kiddo, that makes me a succubus too.” Dante joked and the young woman let out a laugh that was more confident. He mentally corrected himself, knowing incubus was the proper term for the male counterpart of a succubus, but he was a bit too lazy to say so aloud. “Anyways, just bored? C’mon Lil, there’s probably another reason, right?” he asked again, reading her body language that had shifted. He was always the analytical one during mellow moments like this.

Lilith went nearly quiet, having been once again deep in thought. “Maybe… I wanted to find a purpose.” she answered in a near hushed voice, but Dante was listening intently. “I was always the type to wander around, never sticking to something and always moving on to the next. I was very unsure on the type of person I was and what I wanted to do. Big sis joked that I was kind of like those wandering souls around the demon realm. I tried alot of different things for years before finally settling in on joining the B.S.A.A.” a smile ran across her lips, accompanied by a hint of blush, “And… uh, I never met anyone like Chuck before. He inspired me to join after we defeated Carnage together. We saved alot of people that night. I never felt more satisfied in my life, I mean, helping people? That’s when I finally discovered what kind of person I am. Someone who wanted to help.”

The ice cold eyes of the half demon were just as relaxed as his smile was now. Despite having only met Lilith, he felt immensely proud of her for finding purpose. “Glad to hear you found it, kiddo.”

“How about you?” she asked now, turning her head towards him. “What made you start the whole demon hunting business?”

A flush of memories rained on Dante in seconds when she had asked the question. The sound of screaming and gunshots rang around his head. The face of his brother. The face of his mother. His smile faltered a bit but he held onto it tight, he didn’t want to seem like Lilith made a mistake. “Well--” this time, he heard another scream, but not from in his head. He was slightly thankful that it had completely disrupted the conversation and Lilith was quick to spring to action. She was sprinting down the hall now and the half demon let out an exhale and followed her.

They turned the hall to see a bloodied woman a ripped suit with a young intern hiding behind her. The two were cornered by a large demonic creature that appeared to be a merge of a lion, a ram, and a snake for its tail. The woman held a handgun at the demon and shouted warnings at it while using her other arm to hold back the intern behind her. “Get the hell away from us!” she shouted at the monster, knowing her threats were as empty as her handgun. She had wasted all of her ammo on several other demons that had previously attacked the younger girl behind her.

The chimera demon lowered down onto all fours, with its lion half growling at the two humans in the corner. It pounced forward, only to feel them get reeled back and thrown hard into the wall. Dante gripped hard on the large snake tail that was wriggling violently to escape the half demon’s grasp. “C’mon, punk, let’s dance!” he spun around and slammed the chimera down onto the floor.

Lilith ran past the two struggling and to the two women backed into the corner. She was met with a gun pointed her direction and she raised her hands up quickly, “Wait! Wait! It’s okay, we’re nice!” she attempted to reason with the woman in the suit.

“Did you just say _‘we’re nice,’_ Lil!?” exclaimed Dante in disbelief inbetween struggled grunts as he attempted to hold down the demon. He was thrown back into the wall this time by the snake that had gained the upper hand on him.

“W-What the hell is happening here?!” the woman demanded, her eyes darting back and forth from Lilith to the chimera demon.

“It’s under control, don’t worry!” Lilith assured the woman again, slightly shrinking nervously when she heard the demon roar out in agony followed by the devil hunter’s manic laugh in the back. The succubus took in a deep breath and spoke in a lower tone, “I can take you to somewhere safe, trust me.” she extended her hand out to the two women who looked at eachother nervously. They were obviously in shock at the situation they were in, so she hadn’t blamed them for their reactions.

Carefully, the woman took the succubus’ hand and she led them down the hall. “C’mon, this way!” she called and let go of the woman’s hand after seeing that they were capable of moving on her own. “Just down that hall, you’ll see two men that will help you outside! Run as fast as you can and don’t look back!” she ordered and turned back to see Dante launched across the otherside of the room.

“This one likes to play rough!” he said through his gritted teeth. He watched the chimera’s lion part hold Rebellion in its jaws and toss it aside. The ram part of the demon snorted and prepared to charge forward. Lilith flew over the chimera and grabbed the ram’s horns, which resulted in the demon thrashing about to get the succubus off of it.

The B.S.A.A. first lieutenant looked back to see the snake tail preparing to lunge at her and she threw herself out of the way, but still gripping hard on the ram’s horns. The snake dug its fangs into the ram and the demon let out a collective roar. She pulled hard on the horns and brought the demon down to the ground. With a red aura emanating from her hands and eyes, Lilith twisted the ram’s head and ripped off its horns. She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the lion’s claw swipes.

Dante rushed in with Ebony and Ivory in both hands towards the chimera demon. He held it back with his right arm as he unloaded his other handgun into the body of the creature. Ivory’s bullets shot right through the chimera as it let out another roar of pain and the half demon noticed the snake tail reaching for him. He dropped his handgun and took the snake in a choking grip and ripped it clean from the body of the chimera. After tossing aside the discarded tail, he gripped hard on the lion’s mane and chucked it towards Lilith. “Lil! Heads up!”

The succubus smirked deviously and one of her wings wrapped around her left hand, creating a demonic bladed weapon that she used to slice apart the lion’s head from the rest of its body. The chimera’s body slumped against the wall and Lilith’s bladed weapon transformed back into a bat wing. She held out her left fist and held onto it with her right hand for support before yelling out, “Soul Fist!” a navy blue flaming bat skull fired from the succubus’ fist and completely destroyed the remnants of the chimera demon with a bright blue explosion.

“Well atleast we know he ain’t getting back up from that one.” Dante quipped as he holstered Ebony and Ivory behind him. “Let’s get back to Wade and Chuck.”

“Right!” agreed Lilith and she knelt down to hand Rebellion back to the half demon, who accepted it gratefully. The two made their way back to their two friends in a quick sprint.

\---

“Got back just in time.” Chuck said aloud upon hearing the two rush back in. “I just fixed it.” he concluded and placed the panel back. He pressed the button and smirked when it had lit up just as he was expecting.

“And those two survivors?” asked Dante curiously, scanning the room.

“They’re out there now, getting medical treatment.” answered the motocrosser with his thumb pointing back at the door. He got up and held up the small radio on his combat vest close, “I want men to secure this first floor office. We’re going upwards to end this.”

 _“Right away sir!”_ a voice responded on the radio. 

The elevator signaled its approach with a loud ding and it opened up for the four to walk in. They saw their soldiers storm into the office and securing the area, many of them splitting up to find more survivors in the tower. Deadpool stood infront of the group with a grimaced expression upon hearing the expected music that played within the elevator. Suddenly, the elevator came to a halt with a slight rumbling following it after.

“Great.” Dante said sarcastically and sighed. “Now what?”

"Stuck in an elevator with two guys and a girl on a high protein diet." Deadpool pointed out with a chuckle. "Dreams really do come true."

“I’ll see if I can get the controls back…” offered Chuck as he approached the panel. “Again.”

“I don’t think the controls are the problem…” Lilith pointed out and looked upwards. “You feel that too, Dante?”

The half demon’s ice blue eyes glared as he turned his attention to the top as well. “I can smell it alright.” he sniffed, smelling the specific scent of demons.

A pair of blades shot right through the roof of the elevator, barely missing Deadpool who backed out of the way, while one left a tiny scratch on Chuck’s cheek who was nearly centimeters away from the blade. “They sure know how to cut into a conversation.” he said with a raised eyebrow.

The blades ripped open the roof and the four were greeted by the howling of a demonic warrior that had rusted blades for hands. Lilith immediately responded by pulling out her KRISS Vector submachine gun and fired a barrage of bullets inbetween the glowing eyes of the demon who fell out of sight. They heard even more howling as more of the same demon appeared in view and sliced at the cables that held their elevator, sending them crashing down.

“THIS IS WHY I HATE ELEVATORS!” shouted Deadpool as he attempted to hold onto anything for dear life. “THEY’RE ALWAYS BRINGING ME DOWN!”

Acting quickly, Lilith transformed into a red silhouette and phased right through the elevator. Doing the same as before with the Quinjet, she brought her arms up and held the elevator up. Her wings transformed into jets as she fired upwards quickly as the elevator was much more lighter compared to the jet.

She spotted a couple of the bladed demons speeding towards her and she held out one of her hands to fire a few Soul Fists into their direction to spread them out. The succubus noticed a blade rip through the side of the elevator and open it wide open, revealing Dante who had did so with his Rebellion broadsword. “We got your back, Lil!” he called out to her as he traded his blade for his twin pistols, firing down at the demons that chased her.

Deadpool was busy preoccupied with firing his carbine into the opened hole the demons had made. “They’re trying to frick us on both sides!” he shouted and reloaded his weapon while Chuck took his place and fired a few shots from his SPAS-12.

“We’re getting close to the top!” exclaimed the motocrosser when he had looked at the elevator floors for a second then went back to keeping any demon back.

“Shoot the cables from the next elevator!” Lilith called to the white haired demon hunter, who took notice to what she had pointed out and did so.

With a few precise shots from Ebony, the next elevator was sent crashing downwards and crushing a large chunk of demons that were pursuing the succubus. The elevator announced with another ding that it had reached the top floor and she ordered everyone to get in before releasing her hold on the elevator and allowing it to fall as well.

Lilith flew into the room and found the three already firing off their weapons at a horde of demons that rushed them from all sides. She joined the firefight by summoning her own horde of bats that viciously attacked each demon in crowds.

Chuck let out a grunt when he struck a demon with the heavy haymaker, then spun right to fire off the last shell in his shotgun to the head of another demon that had possessed one of the Kingpin’s armored soldiers. With quick flourish, the shotgun was strapped back to his back and he pulled out his handgun and finished off a few devils that were left twitching on the ground from the others attacks.

“Have some bullets, they’re good for you!” Deadpool shouted out as he emptied his magazine into a scythe wielding warrior demon. “And so is blunt force trauma!” He struck the butt of his carbine straight into the nose of the demon and kicked it out of the window, shattering it completely. The mercenary activated his teleporter to dodge the large hammer of a hulking cyclops demon. He reappeared on top of the demon with his katanas in both hands and drove them into the single eye of the creature, which let out a roar that shook the entire room. “ _Eye_ have you now!” he let out a crazed laugh as the cyclops stumbled around in blind rage and swung its weapon wildly into its own demonic comrades.

Rebellion was brought down to the floor with the skull of a demon split into two. “Slam dunk!” Dante said and dashed forwards to impale his demonic broadsword through the cyclops that his partner in crime had blinded. After Deadpool had hopped off the cyclops, the half demon allowed red energy to pulse through his arm and into Rebellion. He let out a battle cry as his blade blasted the cyclops demon into multiple walls.

The four had cleared out yet another room but they knew the Kingpin’s office was right through the destroyed walls that the cyclops demon had destroyed. Chuck led the way, with Lilith right behind him and Dante and Deadpool walking backwards to ensure no other demons had been following them. They passed by the corpse of the cyclops that had been slowly converting into ash and entered the office.

What they were faced with was something that surprised the four of them. The Kingpin stood infront of his windows, calmly smoking a cigar. “Y’all ain’t ever heard of knocking before?” he asked sarcastically. Lilith and Dante glanced at one another, his voice was still completely normal and had no evidence of demonic tampering.

The man turned around, his usual calm demeanor was still evident but a few beads of sweat slowly trickled from his forehead. His clean white suit had been completely ruined having been covered in dust, blood, and scorch marks.

“Wilson Fisk.” Chuck began, not at all lowering his weapon at the man. “How are you still yourself?”

“It’s gon’ take alot more than some _demon_ to take over me.” the Kingpin answered with a short laugh, which then lead into a series of violent coughs. “My men ain’t been so lucky, I see.” he commented when he spotted the various corpses just outside of his office.

Lilith realized what the man was speaking about and was clearly impressed. She sensed the demon inside him, but he had been holding it back from fully possessing him by the sheer force of willpower alone. “How long have you been holding it back?” she asked.

“A few hours now.” the crime lord answered honestly and took another puff of his cigar. They noticed he was slightly struggling balancing himself with his cane. “... and if I gotta hold him back ‘till I drop dead on my knees, then I’m doin’ so.”

“This guy’s good.” Deadpool whispered to his partner who nodded in agreement.

‘Listen, I know y’all must be lookin’ for that artifact.” the Kingpin spoke up and dug in his pocket, showing the four what they had been looking for. “Here it is. But I want something in return.”

Chuck tensed up, his glare not at all faltering. “What do you want?”

The crime lord tapped a single finger against his forehead that had been sweating. It was evident he was slowly losing his grip on holding the demon back. “Plant a bullet right here. I ain’t much a beggin’ man, but if I had to ask one thing for y’all, it’s that.” he took in a deep breath and his cigar fell from his fingers. “What are y’all waiting for… take me out now… while I still got my pride. Don’t let this damned thing take me over.” Despite being in tremendous amounts of pain, his voice was still calm and booming.

“If you say so!” Deadpool held up his M1911 handgun towards the Kingpin, but his hand was brought down by Dante, who nodded over to Lilith.

“Mr. Fisk, I can help you.” the succubus began as she slowly walked towards the mob boss. Her hand glowed with a faint light blue aura, “If you let me, I can pull the demon out and...” she saw the man drop his cane and continue struggling. She ran over to help him balance himself, “This will only take a second.” she assured him and slowly reached for his head.

“LILITH, NO!” Chuck screamed and ran forward to catch the succubus that was struck away. Dante ran over to check if she was alright and she was fine, rubbing her head slowly.

“I was too late…” she whispered regretfully as she saw the Kingpin, no, the demon having finally succeeded in taking over the man.

“Shouldn’t have stopped me, Yuki Nagato.” Deadpool said with his carbine raised.

 _“This foolish mortal only held back the inevitable.”_ the demon spoke through the Kingpin, the voice and manner of speech being completely different now. _“My demons and I shall destroy this entire city. With our next target being the rest of the human realm!”_

Chuck stood up after helping his partner back on her feet, “And who the hell are you supposed to be, buddy?”

The demon let out a laugh at the question. Someone asking who he was? He knew he had to kill that one first. _“Very well. I will enlighten you, mortal. I am the mighty Sak. General Sak!”_ His expression slightly twitched when he was met with quietly snickering. _“What is so humorous?”_

“Holy crap, is this guy’s name really…” Deadpool said in a hushed tone to Dante, who was trying his best to hold back laughter.

 _“My name?!”_ the demon general repeated in disbelief, “ _My name is to be feared in all the realms! The great and powerful Sak that drags his--”_ this time, howling laughter interrupted his speech. _“Cease your laughter, mortals!”_

Chuck was snickering to himself as he held onto his face in disbelief, while the Merc with the Mouth was letting out bursts of unrestrained laughter and holding onto his gut. “I CAN’T BREATHE! I CAN’T BREATHE! HE SAID HE WOULD DRAG HIS SACK!” the mercenary cried out inbetween laughs.

“Whoever named you, pal,” sneered the white haired half demon with a shake of his head, “Oh man they might wanna get a rain check on that.”

_“THE ALL FEARED SAK SHALL NOT BE BELITTLED BY SUCH TINY BEINGS! I SHALL DESTROY EVERY INCH OF--”_

“Ooh, watch out guys! Sak wants to destroy us!” Deadpool feigned fear and continued laughing, “He’s gonna need alot of _balls_ for that, amiright?!”

Lilith groaned but was smiling at the mercenary’s joke. She was trying to cover her smile with her two hands, she couldn’t believe any second of this was even happening. Her scarlet eyes noticed something from the demon, its eyes were flickering from all black to normal. She felt the presence of the Kingpin attempting to fight back! “Hey, um, keep making fun of him!” the succubus said, rather loudly but awkwardly. She had never been the type to poke fun at someone so it seemed strange to even say something as simple as that.

“Oh don’t worry, little Morrigan!” Deadpool hooked his arm around the succubus’ neck, he was still laughing uncontrollably. “This guy’s name practically makes fun of him already!”

 _“YOU MORTALS DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH!”_ the demon general shouted out, he was losing his grip on the body he possessed more and more.

“I think you got your priorities mixed up, pal.” Dante began, “You’re against a merc who can heal from almost anything, a succubus that could blast you out of existence in the blink of an eye, a guy who is really handy with surviving through anything, and well, me.” he shrugged and smirked, “I think you’re in one _hairy_ situation… Sak.”

“Jesus Christ that was just terrible.” the Merc with the Mouth said, which caused the half demon to shoot him a glare.

Suddenly, the demon general let out a scream and gripped his hands on his head. The Kingpin’s eyes flashed back for a moment, “Sak!?” he exclaimed in disbelief, “Take this damn thing outta me, I can’t believe I let something named Sak take over my body!”

Lilith nodded and quickly ran over to the Kingpin. She balled up her fist and it became near transparent, she held her fingers up against the crime lord’s forehead and blue and red sparks shot from different directions. The succubus finally pulled out the demon, who had turned out to be a tiny, pathetic looking one that barely even registered as a threat. “Ew!” she released her hand on the ‘all mighty’ General Sak that fell onto the floor.

 _“THE SAK SHALL NEVER BE DEFEATED! I WILL-”_ it was cut off completely once the Kingpin stomped his foot down and crushed the demon.

“You was sayin’?” he said and fell to his knees, attempting to hold himself up. He pulled out the artifact and held it out towards Lilith, “Just get it over with…”

The succubus nodded and made a grab for the artifact, holding it up in the air. “Back to where you came! Every single one of you!” she exclaimed as her powers wrapped around the artifact and opened it up once more. Her eyes turned from scarlet red to bright neon blue as every single demon within the tower were pulled into the artifact as if it were a black hole. The others in the room watched in awe at the screeching souls of the damned were forcefully taken back into the prison they had escaped once before.  
The final demon was finally pulled into the artifact and Lilith twisted it, finally locking them all inside. She let out a sigh of relief and smiled at her friends, “I always wanted to do that!”

\---

The B.S.A.A. and S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers stormed the building, rescuing any survivors on each floor until finally reaching the top. Soldiers arrested the Kingpin and escorted him towards the exit, though he stopped once he came across Chuck, Dante, Lilith and Deadpool. “Wait.” he told the soldiers, who looked over to their captain for approval.

The captain nodded, “What is it, Fisk?”

“If it wasn’t for y’all, I don’t think I would’ve made it.” the Kingpin admitted, “Once I get outta this here brig again, feel free to stop by here. I ain’t never lettin’ no good deed done for me off without a good deed in return. The Kingpin is in your debt now.”

Lilith and Deadpool were the only one to have a slight smile, while Dante could’ve cared less. Chuck ordered his men to take the crime lord away after he had finished talking. “I wouldn’t take his debt. Can’t trust people like him.” the motocrosser pointed out rather coldly.

“If he gets me VIP tickets to a _Tegan & Sara_ concert, he’s definitely my new best friend!” Deadpool happily chirped, having completely ignored what his friend had said.

“So what’s gonna be the plan for that?” asked Dante, nodding towards the artifact in Lilith’s hand.

The succubus rubbed the black emerald that was now cracked in the middle. “It’s definitely not going back to a museum, that’s what.” she said and placed it back into her pocket. “I’m gonna go back to the demon realm after this and destroy it there so no one will have to deal with it ever again.”

“That’s pretty hardcore, kid.” the half demon said with a grin and he clapped her on the back, “But I’d do the same, so good on ya.”

Deadpool let out a yawn from beneath his mask and he stretched out his shoulders. “Oh man, I’m ready to hay the hit! Hey, Chuckles, think you can book us a ride back home?”

“You got it, buddy.” the motocrosser nodded with a warm smile. The four began to walk out of the office, following the other soldiers that walked towards another functional elevator. “Let’s get the hell outta here, think I had enough of demons today.”

“Oh, you don’t really mean that do you?” Lilith playfully said. “I’m sure you don’t mean all demons~!”

“Heh. You got me there, Lilith."

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the kingpin is based off his appearance in the 2003 daredevil movie, where he was played by the talented michael clarke duncan, may he rest in peace.


	12. The Twins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> C. Viper awakens in a strange home with a pair of young twins that have taken her under their care after discovering her crash landing.

Slowly but surely, C. Viper’s eyes flickered open. She didn’t feel the rough ground floor beneath her body but instead a soft bed that was easy on her sore limbs. Once her eyes had been open enough to see properly she realized she was inside what it appears to be an old shed. The faint smell of a broth or soup touched upon her nose and she attempted to raise herself, only to be met with sharp pains in her lower back and shoulders. The pain prevented her from raising herself and she only let out a tiny grunt after laying back down on the bed. There were bandages wrapped around her exposed waist and another on her left thigh.

She overheard the sound of music playing, or more specifically someone strumming a guitar from afar. Followed by rushed footsteps and doors opening, which alerted the agent as she had no idea where she was and had to be ready to spring into action to defend herself if needed. She was lucky enough to have survived the Quinjet crash and amputating herself, she was not going to let--

Something clicked in her head and repeated, **amputating herself** , which caused her to nearly lose every single ounce of air in her lungs. Her eyes didn’t want to look over as much as her curiosity and regret grew. She knew well enough her left arm was much more lighter compared to her right. Slowly, her eyes moved to see for herself. The woman felt an intense chill shoot from her toes to her head once she saw her own arm. It was gone. Everything past her elbow had been gone and the forearm to her own hand was missing, being replaced with a bandage wrapping that had been stained a crimson red, from her own blood.

“Please, do not be frightened.” a small voice came from across the room she was in. It sounded like a girl’s voice and the words were carefully said as the European-like accent was strong. The agent turned her head slightly to see a young woman, who had to be atleast 18 or 19, slowly walking towards her with a roll of bandages and a bowl in her hands.

The girl was dressed in a black dress under a crimson red cardigan, ripped thigh high socks, and boots. She had long, dark brown hair, heavy eyes with a hint bags despite her age and pale skin that nearly gave her the appearance of a ghost.

“Who--” was all C. Viper could muster out of her mouth as she watched the young woman pull up a chair next to the bed and set down the bowl and bandages.

“Do not waste your energy speaking, please.” the girl said again carefully, her eyes were latched onto the agent and her arms were raised as a sign of peace. “I am not here to hurt you. My name is Wanda. You were near death when me and my brother had found you. We took you into town and had a doctor come and fix you up.”

The redheaded woman let out a small sigh of relief as her eyes went back to looking at the roof. The memories flooded back to her, the attack on her Quinjet, the deaths of the agents under her care, her escape. “Thank you.” she attempted to say, but her voice was hoarse and it felt like her throat was burning.

“You need water, yes?” Wanda asked and got up from her seat immediately, “I will be right back.” she walked out of the room, her boots stepping down on the creaking floorboards.

C. Viper looked over to where the girl was previously sitting, noticing her own ripped up suit had been hung over it. She even noticed her broken aviators on the side table next to the items Wanda had brought in. Footsteps returned, but Viper counted them in her head, the girl was not alone this time.

Wanda returned with a glass of water and behind her was a young man who was much taller and had a admirable build. He had messy, short grey-white hair that had noticeable dark brown roots the closer it came to his head. He had slight facial hair around a slight grin on his lips. There was much more alertness in his eyes compared to Wanda and he carried himself much more confidently as opposed to her near silent walking. He was dressed in black soccer sweatpants, worn running shoes and a navy blue hoodie over a plain white shirt.

“Good morning, sleepy beauty.” he said nodding towards Viper as he set an aged guitar against the wall and propped himself up against the door frame. He had a noticeably thick accent as well but unlike Wanda he didn’t speak quietly or carefully, preferring to be more loud and assertive.

“That is my brother, Pietro.” Wanda introduced him without looking back at her brother. Viper noticed they both resembled twins once she had gotten a better look at the both of their faces. “We were doing our usual searching through abandoned towns in hopes of retrieving much needed food or medicine for the people back here when we found your crashed ship.”

“And those strangers in red.” Pietro chimed in, catching the agent's attention. “They were responsible for your crash, yes?”

C. Viper confirmed it with a subtle nod and Wanda returned to her seat near the agent. “What happened to them?” she asked the twins.

“We…” Wanda looked back over to her brother, who only shrugged his shoulders. “Well, they left as soon as we came.” she lied, but it appeared the agent believed her. “You are with S.H.I.E.L.D., correct?”

“Yeah.” the redheaded woman croaked out again. Wanda raised her head and the glass of water to her lips, allowing her to drink. After finishing the entire glass, Viper allowed her head to rest back on the pillow as Wanda returned the glass to the table.

“Then you must have contacted them?” questioned Wanda again, “They will come here now?”

Viper shook her head, “I tried to, before we crashed. It didn’t work. For all I know they probably think I’m dead.”

“Perhaps we can return to your ship?” Pietro chimed in as he stepped in closer. “Salvage what is left, like communication device. We have few engineers in town that possibly can get it to work.”

“I do not think that is possible.” his twin sister dismissed. “Those men had damaged her ship greatly.”

The white haired young man crossed his arms together, “You would not know this until we check for ourselves, no?”

Viper spoke up to interrupt the twins. “Every Quinjet that is destroyed automatically sends a distress signal. So if it makes it to S.H.I.E.L.D., they’ll come soon.” she attempted to sit up and ignore the aching pain in her back. “How far are we from the crash site?”

“A few towns over. If your people come they will only find the wreckage.” Wanda answered. She laid the agent back down on the bed once again when she noticed her attempts of sitting up. “You still are not in good enough condition to walk. Do you wish for me and my brother to check by around there every hour to see if anyone comes?”

“That would be helpful.” Viper nodded with a small smile. She pointed over to her suit jacket, “My jacket. It has my ID in there. If you find someone and they don’t believe you, you can show them that.”

Pietro carefully picked up the torn suit jacket and dug around inside its pockets. He pulled out the woman’s ID, it had a slight blood splatter on it. “Maya?” he repeated upon reading her name then looked at the agent.

“Is that your name?” asked Wanda, a comforting smile coming across her face. “I had forgot to ask your name.”

“Yes.” the agent confirmed. She nearly raised her left arm to shake the twins’ hands but remembered she didn’t even have a hand anymore. In the end, she just decided to thank vocally them. “Thank you, you two…” she still couldn’t believe she was alive. She had nearly given up back then but she had been given a second chance, boosting her spirits up tremendously despite the injuries she had received. “I can’t thank you enough.” she saw her daughter’s face and only wanted to see her again.

The twins looked at one another with a shared smile then back to the agent. Half an hour passed and Wanda had replaced the bandages on Viper’s amputated arm with fresh new ones, while Pietro helped feed her the warm soup and occasionally sat back to play his guitar. The twins both sang a comforting song together in their mother language. Despite not understanding the lyrics, the agent still felt safe and sound listening to their soft voices. She was reminded of whenever she herself had sung to her daughter to comfort her back to sleep after a bad dream.

\---

 _“This is Agent Viper! My pilot has been killed and the controls are destroyed! We are going down! I repeat! We are--”_ the woman’s voice was cut off as soon as the transmission ended.

Lady and Trish sat silently on the couch, unable to fully process what they were hearing.

 _“I’m sorry.”_ the man, who introduced himself as Agent Coulson, spoke over the phone. _“Agent Viper was one of the best agents I had the pleasure of working with. It’s a shame we had to lose her in such circumstances. You two are some of her closest friends and it’s-”_

“No.” the blonde demoness simply said, cutting him off. She refused to believe Maya was dead. “She’s not dead. Maya wouldn’t let anything take her down…”

“Yeah!” Lady chimed in, “She’s one of the toughest girls I know! I bet she’s out there right now kicking those fucks who attacked her with one hand tied behind her back!”

 _“...”_ the agent was silent from the other line, he didn’t know what to say to the two women.

“How about this, Coulson,” began Trish, “You send us a ride and we’ll go find her ourselves. Seeing how you all have so much other important things to do that don’t seem to include rescuing her.”

_“Our drones looked over the entire area and--”_

“Fuck those drones and fuck what you think!” shouted the raven haired demon huntress, her voice full of venom. “Send us a ride right now and we’ll prove to you she’s alive or I swear on everything I know I’m coming up there in your stupid floating fortress in the sky and personally beating the shit out of _every_ single one of you!”

 _“Fine, fine, fine. Calm down.”_ Coulson said over the phone, _“We have one pilot and ship to spare, a personal volunteer. We’re sending them over now. If you find Agent--”_

“ _When_ we find Maya.” corrected Trish matter-of-factly. “We’ll let you know. Later.” she ended the call and threw the transmitter onto the floor. The device completely shattered into multiple directions and she hadn’t bothered cleaning it up as she sat back and breathed in slowly.

“She’s not dead. I know it.” Lady said aloud as her hands were balled into a fist. She felt her nails leaving grooves into her palm and her teeth grinding against eachother. She knew after saving Maya, she was going to find whoever had attacked her and make them pay.

Trish stood up and made her way upstairs, “Let’s get ready.”

It was the day after the incident at the Kingpin’s tower. Trish and Lady had went down to the museum to search for the tour guide that had apparently known what the artifact was capable of, but came up with nothing. They returned back home just in time to see Dante and Deadpool back as well. _If only we knew what happened to her sooner…_ the blonde demoness thought to herself as she picked out clothes from her suitcase.

Deciding on a warm white puff jacket with a fluffed hood, a white scarf, black jeggings and black boots. She had been informed that the area where they had last received Maya’s last transmission was in a small country called Sokovia, located in Eastern Europe. It has been known for its rough history and cold weather, so she made a point to Lady to wear something warm just in case the cold was too much for them. Luce and Ombra were holstered behind her with the Sword of Sparda behind her. She had made sure to leave a sticky note on where the demonic blade was usually placed for Dante to read once the half demon eventually woke up.

Lady threw an assortment of clothes all over the room as she looked for something to wear. Compared to Trish’s side of their shared room, her’s was much more messy and an eyesore. The raven haired woman finally threw on a woodland camo stylized cargo jacket over a black hoodie, black skinny jeans and her usual brown gloves and brown boots that reached to her knees. Her Skorpion submachine gun and Desert Eagle handgun were hidden well underneath her jacket, alongside a multitude of extra ammo and grenades that were hooked on her utility belt.

“You ready yet?” asked Trish impatiently as she stood at the double doors of the Devil May Cry, her hand was wrapped tightly on the doorknob.

“Yup. Let’s get going.” Lady said as she secured the strap of her Kalina Ann rocket launcher around her and followed her partner outside the office.

They spotted Bulleta sitting on the last step and casually smoking a cigarette in silence. The sound of the door opening made her turn around to see the two women closing the doors behind them and giving her a warm smile. “You’re up early.” the blonde demoness noted.

“So are you two. What’s up?” she asked after returning the smile to the two older women.

“You remember Maya, right? The agent that we escorted while she was under disguise?” Trish asked the younger demon huntress.

Bulleta put out her cigarette in a nearby ashtray and answered, “Yeah, why?”

“Her fuckin’ coworkers think she’s dead. We’re gonna go prove them wrong.” Lady explained the situation with a tone that was unlike her usual happier one. “Going into Sokovia to find her.”

The blonde girl stood up and remembered that Lady and Trish were good friends of C. Viper. “You guys want some help?” she asked after having recognizing their determination.

“Sure.” the smile on Lady’s face reappeared, but it wasn’t as bright as it usually was. “Just go grab whatever you need, we’ll be out here.”

Bulleta nodded and ran up the steps to return to the office, with Trish quickly reminding her to grab something warm to wear as well. She returned in less than a minute, having grabbed a black beanie with her bangs pushed back into it, a grey long sleeve underneath her red leather hooded vest, and her usual black jeans, fingerless gloves and boots. “So how are we getting there?” she asked while performing a last minute check on her Uzi before placing it inside her jacket.

The three looked upwards to see a Quinjet slowly descend infront of them, with its hatch opening up automatically for them to enter. “With this.” Trish said with a grin and led the two others inside the jet.

They saw the pilot of the Quinjet quickly stand up from their seat once they had seen the three walk in. “Trish and Lady, right?” they said after removing their helmet, which revealed a rather young pilot with androgynous features, short, curly black hair and brown colored skin.

“Yep.” the blonde demoness confirmed as she set Sparda against the interior of the jet. “You must be our volunteer. We can’t thank you enough…” she trailed off, not knowing the pilots name.

“Rachel. I mean, my callsign is Rachel, named after the ship I pilot. But most people just call me Ray. Which, uh, I like much better.” they introduced themselves, sounding a bit nervous.

Lady balanced Kalina Ann on the other set of seats and patted it before returning to the conversation, “Ray, huh? You must be new, you’re pretty young.”

“Yes ma’am. I just joined a few months back.” the pilot said with a smile. They had nearly forgotten the urgency of the mission and returned to their seat, “Sorry, sorry, let’s skip formalities for now. Next stop: Sokovia. It’ll take a bit of time at top speed, but not too long.” they announced as they flicked a few switches on the panel to their side.

Bulleta relaxed herself back on one of the seats Lady’s rocket launcher hadn’t taken over. She propped her feet up on the seats opposite of her and rested her head back. Trish and Lady took their own seats next to the devil huntress as the Quinjet prepared to take off.

\---

The ride was mostly quiet, not that it was a bad thing. The only sounds at the moment were the humming from the jet’s engines, the sound of flips being switched and the occasional short lived radio calls from Ray’s transmitter.

Trish stood up from her seat to go meet with their pilot in the cockpit. “Hey.” the demoness greeted warmly with a smile and the pilot returned it as well.

“What can I do for you, ma’am?” Ray asked before turning on auto pilot for a few moments.

“Please, just call me Trish.” she said as she looked at the view of the clear blue sky with the clouds underneath them. “You can find exactly where my friend crashed, right?”

The pilot tapped their two fingers on a small screen near them, “We last received Agent Viper’s transmission here over the borders of Sokovia. The onboard computer measures where exactly her Quinjet would have crashed from the moment she sent out that distress call and uses that information to determine where she would have ended up. If that doesn’t work, I always have my radio on to see how the others back at Command can locate the distress signal every Quinjet sends out after they had been destroyed.” they looked back up at the demoness with a reassuring smile. “I promise you all will find your friend. I’m sure she’s safe and sound too.”

“Thanks Ray, that really means alot.” Trish smiled and tapped the pilot’s shoulder before returning to her seat.

“Oh hey, Trish!” Lady greeted her partner, who in turn have noticed her mood had seemed to have lightened up compared to earlier. “Me and Red were just talking about her date with Patty.”

“H-Hey! It wasn’t a date!” Bulleta immediately denied and a hint of red flushed over her cheeks.

Trish smirked and sat back down next to Lady, “Oh really now? Lady, tell me three things that could prove Red wrong.”

The raven haired woman had a mischievous grin on her face as soon as she was asked that question. “Well-!” Bulleta’s hand went over her mouth to prevent her from speaking further.

“It went fine!” the younger demon huntress said for her, “We just got coffee and cake, then went to that arcade you guys suggested…”

“Aaand?” Trish asked playfully.

“Well, um.” Bulleta began and released Lady’s mouth from her hand, “She held my hand. Kind of. At the, uh, coffee shop.” her face was now as red as her vest.

The blonde demoness let out a chuckle and nudged her elbow to her partner. “Aaahh, you’re a little matchmaker, aren’t you Lady?”

“Oh yes, Red here can definitely back me up on that!” Lady hooked her arm around the neck of the younger girl. “Ain’t that right, hmm?”

“W-Whatever...”

\---

“Approaching location of last transmission from Pequod's Quinjet.” Ray announced to the passengers who all got up to take a look for themselves. They saw a landscape with its ground covered in a thin layer of snow and rows of abandoned and destroyed homes throughout the area. “Sokovia has had a rough history, but these people are pretty tough for getting through all these wars and the Ultron invasion from a few months back.” the pilot commented and scanned the area around for a proper landing zone.

Trish squinted her eyes at the distance, she swore she saw something that resembled a haunting face within the distance. She hadn’t dismissed it yet, especially when the screen on the controls began to static.

“This… never happened before…” Ray slowly said once they noticed the static and glitching of their control screens. “Preparing forced landin--”

“No.” the blonde demoness interrupted the pilot. “Land somewhere else, we’ll just walk our way there instead.”

“Are you sure?” the pilot asked in a concerned manner. “I’m sure this is just a graphical glitch.”

Bulleta dug into her vest and produced a pair of black sunglasses, placing them on her face. Her index finger tapped against the side of it and her brows furrowed at what she saw.

“You see it too, Red?” asked Trish. What she saw a minute ago was in clear view now: it was a demonic force field that surrounded the entire area. She knew if Ray attempted a landing the Quinjet would instantly be destroyed.

“Yeah.” Bulleta confirmed and handed the sunglasses to Lady, who wore it and was able to see the force field finally.

“It’s definitely naked to human eyes.” Lady agreed, “That takes some powerful magic though...” she began to grow worried. What if demons were responsible for attacking Maya?

“So… land somewhere else then?” Ray said carefully, not at all aware of what the three were talking about.

“Take a look for yourself.” the raven haired woman said and held up the sunglasses to them. The pilot looked back and forth at her and the pair with slight confusion, before slowly putting them over their face.

The pilot was quick to remove the glasses in an instance after they saw the demonic force field. “W-What the hell…”

“It’s a magic barrier made by demons. If you try to land in that, well let’s just say it won’t end pretty for us.” Trish explained.

“I-I see.” Ray took in a deep breath and gripped hard on the joystick after putting the glasses back on. “Can you guide me to find a safer LZ?”

“Of course.” the blonde demoness agreed and took her seat next to Ray, looking down at the digital map and then back out from the view. After a few minutes the Quinjet landed carefully in an area away from the demonic barrier, thanks to Trish’s guidance. She rubbed the pilot’s back who let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“We can keep in contact with these.” Ray said as they handed out small devices that fit perfectly in one’s ear to the three demon huntresses. “If the area is as dangerous as you say, I’ll stick to the sky and report anything that could be of concern.”

“Thanks Ray.” Bulleta nodded after testing out the device in her ear. She noticed the pilot handing the sunglasses back to her but she shook her head. “Keep it. You might need it. You are our eye in the sky, after all.” The pilot thanked her and set it back on their lap.

“We’ll try to be quick. Who knows what trouble Maya is in right now…” Lady said solemnly as she readied Kalina Ann behind her.

“Right.” Trish agreed and was the first to step out of the Quinjet. “Let’s go.”

\---

It wasn’t that long of a jog to the crashed Quinjet, the three had already reached it in a few minutes tops. Trish was the first to step inside the interior of the destroyed jet and scan every inch for her friend. While her partner did that, Lady walked around the crash site calling for Maya’s name over and over. Bulleta examined the scattered bodies around the area carefully. She noticed the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were killed by gunshots, but the red armored ones were definitely taken out by some other type of lethal, almost supernatural force.

“Fuck! She’s not here...” Trish cursed in near silence as she punched the walls of the Quinjet, leaving an impressive dent inside it. Where could have she gone? If she was killed, her body would have been seen, but her body was nowhere to be seen. She knew she had to have survived and possibly escaped, or did demons take her instead?

“Oi, check this out.” called out Bulleta to the other two who quickly walked to her location. The blonde devil huntress was standing over the corpse of a red armored soldier, who’s limbs were completely torn apart from its body. “If that doesn’t scream demon, then I don’t know what does.”

“The demonic shield and then this.” Lady said and rubbed her chin. “Definitely demons. We better be careful and find Maya fast.”

Bulleta’s oceanic eyes looked up to view one of the tall trees to see another red armored grunt impaled in its long branches. She clicked her tongue and pointed it out to Trish, who viewed it intensely. “Weird that only the non S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers were taken out in these brutal ass ways…” the devil huntress mused aloud. A strange noise emitted from the forest that caught the attention of the three demon huntresses, who began pulling their weapons out.

“I’ll go see what it is.” Trish said and without even discussing it with the two, she sprinted towards the forest with Luce and Ombra in both hands.

Lady adjusted Kalina Ann’s strap and shared a concern glance with Bulleta. “Someone’s gotta make sure she doesn’t get in trouble… and she’s usually the one doing that for me.” the raven haired woman said with a heavy sigh and followed her partner into the forest.

Bulleta was left alone and she returned to the crash site to continue examining the bodies. She swore she had heard something that sounded like the wind ripping apart. Her hands gripped hard on her Uzi to the point her knuckles went white. The noise came from behind her and she spun right round to aim in that direction, slowly backing away. She only saw the empty snow landscape with the occasional destroyed home, but there also seemed to be a hint of fading blue that had barely escaped the corner of her eye.

She was suddenly sent tumbling down to the ground and let out a groan of pain. It felt like a speeding car had struck her and she scrambled to get back up to her feet, ignoring the pain as adrenaline took over her body and warmed her completely. Seeing that hint of blue again she immediately opened fire, only for to see her Uzi was somehow removed from her hands before she was once again taken down back to the ground.

Her oceanic eyes looked up when she heard the sound of shoes crunching against the snow. It was a young man with white hair and a smug grin, she could have almost mistaken him for Dante if she was half blind. He held her Uzi and its ammo magazine in both hands and tossed it behind him. “You didn’t see that coming?” he mocked with a raised brow and a single click of his tongue. He had spoken with a heavy European accent and complete arrogance. His mocking only further infuriated the devil huntress as she let out a low growl and pulled out her M9 Beretta, opening fire at his direction.

The man immediately disappeared from her sights, but she saw the split second faint image of him running down the landscape in impossible speeds. _Great. Someone with fucking super powers..._

\---

_“Trish?! Trish, where are you!?”_

She heard her partner calling her name repeatedly but couldn’t focus on it as a strange red aura held tightly on her body with a crushing grip. Trish was held up against a tree and then suddenly sent crashing down into the snow floor, followed by being slammed into another tree that was snapped in half upon contact with it. The red aura released her and she managed to make a three point landing, staring sharp daggers back up at her aggressor.

“Your kind is not welcome here.” the young woman with dark hair and glowing red eyes said in a dark tone, with a distinct European accent. Both of her hands were emitting the same red aura and she raised one of her arms up, causing Trish to be forcefully dragged up in midair. “I will send you back to where you belong, demon.”

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: pietro maximoff and wanda maximoff, quicksilver and scarlet witch respectively. from the x-men/avengers series, but based on their appearances in the avengers: age of ultron movie.


	13. Overprotective Qualities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trish battles the powerful psychic Wanda while Bulleta is outran by the brash speedster Pietro. These two seem to be attacking them with ill intent, but could they actually be protecting something far greater?

Wanda continued to slam the demon into the ground and into trees with her telekinetic abilities. Despite appearing as a blonde haired woman, she knew very well that this was a creature from the depths of Hell itself. The aura that surrounded its body was the same as the monsters that had been continuously attacking her home. Remembering this further infuriated the young woman and her breathing increased in intensity, along with the power she added into her attacks. She saw for a split second that this demon barely even looked phased from her attacks despite the cuts and bruises that would have taken out any of the other creatures she had faced before.

_Have... have I underestimated it?_ she mentally questioned and nearly shuddered at the thought of being unable to kill this demon. She thought over the possibility of calling her twin brother for help but she casted it aside. She had to be strong to protect her home from these things that torture her people. The glowing red mist that held the demon pulled it closer to the girl and with her free hand she sent a blast of the same colored psychic energy directly into the creature, sending it crashing away.

Trish tumbled a bit but had managed to get back on her two feet in an instance. She blew a strand of her own blonde hair away from her face and shook one finger towards the pale girl. “Bad move letting me go, little lady.” she spoke aloud in an annoyed tone and she immediately sent a crackling blue lighting bolt towards the girl.

Wanda was a bit surprised at the power the demon suddenly displayed and she was forced to make a quick energy shield to block off the lighting. Most of the attack had been reflected off and struck a nearby tree that lit on fire. She definitely knew she had underestimated this creature and the girl felt a cold sweat go through her body. “I will not give up. I will not give up. I will not give up.” Wanda repeated to herself quietly as she recollected her senses and determination. She took in a deep breath from the cold air and her eyes pulsed with a red energy once more.

The demoness saw the pale girl completely rip apart two trees from the ground with the strange, red mist that emitted from the girl’s hands. One of the trees were sent flying towards her and Trish shot another burst of electricity that blew it apart. The other tree was flung towards her and she was quick to roll out of the way instead, brandishing Luce and Ombra in the process.

A energy shield was once again put up the instance Wanda had seen the monster suddenly pull out guns. She hadn’t even known the demons were knowledgeable enough to use weapons and this worried her greatly. The bullets were far from the regular she had been accustomed to seeing due to her war torn country. They had even more energy and threatened to rip through her shield unless another plan was formulated. Wanda passed on the idea of attacking back once the demon reload its weapons, but the bullets never ceased. She continued to question how any of this was possible.

The stationary bullets in her shield suddenly gave Wanda an idea. She held one hand to hold the shield still while another moved in a spinning motion. The bullets slowly turned around and with her free hand she let out a push and they were all sent back towards the creature, who appeared surprised for once.

Trish jumped out of the way to avoid the array of her own bullets being sent back to her. She mentally chided herself knowing that one day this would happen to either or Dante with their abilities to create bottomless magazines. The demoness stood up to her feet and saw the girl running towards her with a look of death in her dark eyes, but she could also see a small hint of nervousness on her young face. She had no idea who this girl was or why she began attacking her or how she was capable of these feats of power, but this moment was not the time to be asking questions.

She channeled her demonic energy into both of her handguns and shot a quick lighting blast shots from both of its barrels. The strange girl swatted away the attacks with the red mist and Trish jumped over her after her distraction proved to be useful. While in the air, the demoness fired another few powered shots at the girl.

Wanda attempted to do the same as before but the shots were much more closer and she had only managed to cast one away harmlessly while the other exploded right in front of her, sending her falling back onto her back. Upon hitting the floor a cold realization had hit her almost as frozen as the snow below her. She truly might not be strong enough to take out this monster. In a sudden burst of panic she shot out her hand and held up the demon in the air again, slamming it down onto the ground.

The girl scrambled to get herself back onto her two feet, ignoring the blood that trickled down her nose. She felt like she was exerting herself beyond her limits but pushed herself to go further. Wanda wiped the blood away with her similarly colored sleeve and with strained breaths she continued to pound the demon into the floor like an infant attempting to break a toy. Feeling the intense heat in her body despite the cold wind that blew through the forest, she only wanted the creature to finally give in and allow her to win.

Trish was held up back in the air and she saw the girl’s glowing red eyes practically burning now. The girl held up both of her arms and slowly motioned them together in a crushing motion. Just as expected, the red mist around Trish suddenly felt even more tight. She struggled with her teeth bared like a wild animal against the crushing sensation, hoping to hold out a little longer until the pale girl had finally fainted from overuse of her powers.

“Let her go!” a familiar voice cried out with pure anger and the demoness saw a speeding rocket strike the ground near the pale girl.

Wanda was caught in another explosion she barely managed to contain with her powers and she was forced back into a tree. She let out a cry of pain and released her grip on the demon. Her eyes looked up to see another young woman with short black hair. The strange thing was the aura emitting from her was clearly human, why was she helping this creature?

“Y-You don’t understand!” she managed to blurt out towards the raven haired woman in an attempt to reason with her. “That is a monster!” she pointed an accusing finger at the creature that brought itself up once again.

Lady’s brows furrowed and she gritted her teeth upon hearing the girl's words. “Yeah?” she heaved Kalina Ann’s barrel back at the young girl again. “Well that _monster_ just happens to be my best friend.”

\---

Bulleta sprinted through the abandoned ruins of an old town. She had to think of something quick if she were to take out this speeding stranger that clearly overpowered her. “I’ve faced worst things before in the Makai, right?” she assured herself as her ocean blue orbs darted around her area.

The demon huntress backed herself up against a wall and planted a small device behind her, which emitted a near silent beeping. She quickly moved out of the way of the invisible laser that shot out from the device and ended against another end of a wall. She fired her Uzi up at the air in an attempt to expose her location to her opponent. Just as planned, the sound of wind breaking was approaching and in seconds the device she had planted exploded.

Pietro should’ve noticed the tiny silver thing on the wall, but his overconfidence had gotten the best of him. He was forcefully flung by an explosion towards another house. He ached in pain upon striking a table that his weight broke in half. Another explosive was thrown inside his location and he pushed himself back up and sped towards the exit. The building blew apart and time completely slowed down in his perspective.

He stepped out of the building and dodged any incoming rubble or debris from the explosion. He saw the blonde wearing red just outside with her weapon trained in his direction. The woman, Maya, had warned him beforehand of the strangers in red that had attacked her ship. Upon seeing this girl he was quick to act and made sure to deal with this one as quick as the others before, but this one was proving to be more of a problem. There were already bullets slowly making their way towards him and he simply placed them out of harm’s way and continued running towards the girl. He spotted the same silver device from before planted in the alley he was in and wasn't planning on falling for the same trick twice as he hopped over it. After passing all of her traps he grinned and he balled up his fist to deliver a bone shattering strike to her skull, only for a blinding light to envelop him alongside a piercing ringing.

Bulleta had timed it correctly and she covered herself from the flash bang grenade she had left right in the corner that successfully stunned the speedster. It was a risky maneuver but she knew it had a chance once she had put her opponent in more closed areas with less directions to run to. She rushed towards the man and delivered a strong roundhouse kick to his chest. He was no longer stunned but only groaning in pain upon crashing back against the debris. The demon huntress gripped against the collar of his shirt and prepared to deliver another blow.

_PIETRO!_ he heard his twin sister calling to him mentally. Her voice was full of fear and he knew he had to rush to her aide at this very moment. Pietro pushed the girl off of him and in an instance ran back towards the forest where his sister had said she sensed a demon lurking about.

“Yeah, you better run…” Bulleta said to the fading blue trails of wind that the speedster left behind as he ran off in supersonic speeds.

\---

Pietro rushed into the forest depths and located his twin sister backed against a tree with two armed women standing before her. Unable to pick out which one was the demon Wanda was speaking about, he had to take them both down before rushing to his sister’s aide. He first tackled the blonde woman and sent her flying into some distance away, then sped to the dark haired woman and threw her over his shoulder. For an added assurance he quickly removed the rockets inside the heavy launcher she carried and finally dashed over to his twin.

“We have to get out of here. Return to Maya.” Wanda said, looking back up at her brother then to the two women he had taken out in the blink of an eye.

“No! They hurt you!” Pietro retorted after noticing the blood passing from his sister’s nose. “I take you back to Maya, then I come back here to kill them.” he said as his hands balled into fists upon looking back at the two.

“No, no. This was my own fault.” she explained, wiping away the blood again. She brought herself to her feet then allowed herself to be lifted up by her brother. “You are hurt too. Losing your breath. You cannot hide these things from me.”

The speedster shook his head but didn’t meet his sister’s eyes. “I am fine.”

“We go back.” the psychic pressed once more. “Now.”

Pietro took a single moment to think and decided to go through with his sister’s wishes. He took in a deep breath and held a steady hand on his sister’s head to prevent her from receiving whiplash from his speed. The twins sped away and they were already gone before Trish and Lady got back up to their feet.

“What the fuck, my gun!” Lady exclaimed out in disbelief as she looked down to Kalina Ann and its ammo having been completely removed. She kneeled and began reloading it, looking around the area before speaking up once more. “How the hell did that kid do that?”

“You think he’s something, you should’ve seen what the girl could do.” Trish mildly joked after she had pulled out a tree branch from her gut, rather carelessly. She held a hand over the wound and felt it slowly heal and close. “She knew I was a demon and immediately attacked me. Slamming me against everything like I was some doll. You heard her too, she even called me... a monster.” she said the word strangely, feeling a bit of pain far greater than the physical injuries she received upon being called something of that magnitude.

“H-Hey,” Lady noticed her friend’s gloomy expression and immediately dropped what she was doing, running over to her to wrap her around in a hug. “You’re not a monster, you hear me? Sure, you’re a demon, but that doesn’t make you any worse than me, a fucking _human_. There’s shitty demons and shitty humans and shitty whatever those kids are - everywhere. And guess what? You are not one of them, Trish.” she felt the blonde hold on tight around her body. “You’re better than any stupid fucking names anyone gives you. You’re my _best friend_...”

“Thank you.” Trish quietly said and they remained in their hug for a few more seconds before breaking off.

“You good, right?” asked the raven haired woman who was putting up her usual, toothy smile.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” nodded the demoness and returned the smile. Lady’s smile always was contagious, especially to her.

“Good!” Lady ran over back to Kalina Ann and finished loading back the rockets. “C’mon, let’s regroup with Red and find where those kids went.”

Trish tilted her head slightly in curiosity, “How would you know where they went? They could be anywhere.”

The devil huntress’ dual colored eyes darted over to something on the ground and the demoness noticed it as well. It was a single blood drop and they saw that it extended out to an even farther direction. They shared a smirk with one another and contacted Bulleta of their location, asking her to come as soon as she can.

Bulleta was quick to meet up with the two and looked about suspiciously at the destroyed trees and scorch marks across the snow. “Did I miss something fun?” she asked and reholstered her Uzi inside her jacket upon confirming the area was clear.

“Try a creepy girl with some extreme telekinesis.” Trish answered with a mildly annoyed expression.

“More of them?” the blonde demon huntress questioned, meaning 'them' as in people with super powers. “I had to deal with some punk that ran really fucking fast.”

“Jeez, what the hell did you two do to piss them off?” Lady joked and carried Kalina Ann behind her again.

“Don’t know. But I’m definitely beating some answers out of them once I see ‘em.” Bulleta said coldly as she cracked her knuckles and neck.

Trish picked up Luce and Ombra from the ground and brushed the snow that covered the handguns away. “Let’s go. They left behind a trail that we could follow them.” she explained as she holstered her pistols. “I have this weird feeling those kids aren’t actually bad…”

Lady let out a scoff, “You kiddin’ me? That weird girl was smashing you around the place until I fired a rocket at her! And even then she managed to survive that!”

“Remember what I said? She called me a demon and a monster, it’s kind of obvious she hates demons.” Trish reminded her partner and looked back to meet her eyes, “Reminds you of someone doesn’t she?”

The raven haired devil huntress went silent, her dual colored orbs looking back into the snow. She said nothing else, even Bulleta was quiet when she heard what Trish said.

“That demonic shield too… I think we might have landed in a place where demons are very active.” Trish recalled to the magical barrier that still surrounded them. She saw the faint images of screaming phantoms in the sky. “And if I were to guess, those kids are probably the only protection these people have from the demons…”

Lady walked forward and past her friend, having begun to follow the very spaced out blood trail. “Let’s just get going, already. If anything, those two are from a nearby town that Maya would have made it to.”

Bulleta pulled up her hood and placed a cigarette in between her lips. “If you’re right, then it looks like we got another mission on our hands.” she simply said to Trish before lighting the cigarette and puffing a smoke out. "But we're here for Maya first and foremost." She followed the raven haired woman with her hands deep inside her vest pockets.

The blonde demoness took a moment in silence, still looking up at the demonic barrier that enveloped around them. “Ray, we’re tracking some kids with powers here. Think you can help us out?”

_“Uhh… the scanners detected something moving at high speeds throughout the abandoned towns. Just head North, which seems to be what the others are doing.”_

“Alright, thanks. Call you back soon.”

\---

“How did this happen?” C. Viper asked the twins. Her tone was the one she had usually used whenever her own daughter had gotten into some trouble on the playground.

Pietro was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. He was breathing heavily and mess of empty water bottles were on his lap, with another already half empty one in his hands. Wanda was breathing deep through her nose and staring at the ground, trying to recompose herself. Her nose bleed had stopped recently and she was still wiping away the dried blood from her nose.

The agent clicked her tongue in slight motherly disappointment and got up from her bed. She had rested enough to be able to walk about, but any extreme physical activities like fighting or running had to wait until she was fully restored. “I figured you both were gifted with something special. How else would I have gotten out of that mess.” she said and used her remaining hand to press an alcohol swab over Wanda’s small injuries.

Wanda slightly flinched at the stinging pain of the disinfectant. “I saw… a demon.” she slowly explained, the word demon catching the agent’s attention. “I fought it. I had to, to protect everyone here. I almost lost once a woman attacked me. She was even saying the demon was her ...  _friend_.” she still couldn't believe what the black haired woman had said. “How could anyone be friends with those  _creatures_.”

Someone who was friends with a demon? How many people she knew that could be attached with that trait? C. Viper knew only one person that could be who Wanda was speaking of. “How did the woman look like? The one who attacked you I mean.”

“She had black hair. Almost as black as night. Short too, past ears.” the telekinetic girl motioned the length with a single hand. “Her eyes were of two different color. She had big scar across her nose and smaller ones across cheeks. She also fought with missile launcher.”

_That definitely sounds like Lady..._ the agent thought to herself.

“I fought another stranger in red. She was at the wreckage of your ship.” Pietro chimed in after he finished his umpeenth water bottle. His breaths were less heavy now but he was able to properly speak. “She was different. Fought differently. Very young too. Wore red hood and not the armor the rest had.” he recounted the short lived fight and his smugness getting the best of him.

_And that sounds like that kid, Bulleta..._ C. Viper confirmed in her head. She had given up on the belief help was arriving but here she was, hearing descriptions of people she knew, unable to fully process that help was coming after all. The only thing that worried her was that her allies had apparently clashed with these two young twins that saved her life.

“You’re bleeding.” the agent told Pietro, he hadn’t noticed the piece of shrapnel jammed into his right thigh.

“Oh.” he simply let out. In truth, he barely even felt it, thanks to his gifts and the adrenaline that rushed through him. He assumed he had received it during one of the explosions he was caught in. “Wanda?” he turned towards his sister who let out a sigh and got up to kneel down infront of him.

She held her hands over the injury and the red mist surrounded it. Her dark eyes, which glowed a faint red, looked back to C. Viper, “Grab it once I pull it out. I will treat the injury as fast as I can after.”

The agent nodded and readied herself. She watched as Wanda slowly pull out the debris, which allowed blood to start spilling from Pietro’s injury. Though the young man had only a slight cringe at the sight of this. Once the debris was successfully taken out, C. Viper grabbed it with a cloth and placed it down, then continued to watch as Wanda take a medical kit and attend to the injury.

“I told you to be more careful.” the girl scolded her twin as she finished suturing the wounds shut. She placed gauze directly on the injury and wrapped a bandage around his thigh to hold everything together. “At speed nothing can touch you, but standing still--”

“I know. I know.” he cut her off with a heavy sigh. He felt like he had heard that from her a million times by now. “I wasn’t even standing still, I had got caught in explosion.” he attempted at explaining but only received another glare from his twin. “What, I’m still in one piece, am I not?”

“You are and I am very glad, but that is not the case.” her eyes drifted at the blood trail her brother had left behind past the door. “Your blood. They could follow us here and…”

C. Viper remained silent, not at all attempting to interrupt the twins’ conversation.

“They will not follow us.” Pietro dismissed easily with a small wave of his hand. Just as he said this he heard the floorboards creaking and a voice speak. It was the girl he had fought earlier.

“You may run fast, but man do you run in a predictable pattern.” Bulleta said with cold oceanic eyes at the twins. Trish and Lady stepped in the room as well with similar glares as sharp as daggers. Pietro and Wanda scrambled up quickly and entered a battle stance, ready to fight here and now.

**To Be Continued...**


	14. Hand In Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trish, Lady and Bulleta find themselves in a tension high situation with Pietro and Wanda. C. Viper tries her best to be the connecting bridge between both parties in an attempt to get them to work together against a bigger threat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since sokovia and its language are entirely fictional i tried to make pietro and wanda's language into some mix of russian and ukrainian but couldn't work it out in writing so their sentences in italics will just be when they're speaking sokovian. hopefully it wont be confusing with inner thoughts and over the radio dialogue which are also in italics.

“Everyone calm down!” C. Viper said aloud, trying to ease the already high tension between the twins and her friends.

“How did you find us this quick?” questioned Pietro with his eyes glaring down at the three. He held his sister and C. Viper behind him protectively. “It would have taken hours to get here without my speed.”

“Like Red said, you left a blood trail that happened to go in a straight line, Speedy.” Lady began her explanation, her eyes running over to Pietro. “Once we realized that, Trish here teleported us forward to save some time. Found this town and asked around for a pair of kids with powers.”

“ _Demon!_ ” Wanda shouted towards Trish in her mother tongue, Sokovian. Though the demoness couldn’t understand her, she saw the girl’s eyes were glowing red as her anger rose. “ _Go back to Hell and never return!_ ”

Pietro was the only one to understand her and he turned his head back to his twin sister and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “ _Sister, try to remain calm. I’ll find a way out of this._ ” he said to her in a near hushed tone.

“What did she say?” Bulleta asked to the other two women with a cocked eyebrow. “It sounded like Russian.”

“Actually it is Sokovian.” Pietro corrected her harshly. “What, did cold get to your head, _idiot_?”

She didn’t even need a translation to know that the speedster insulted her. The demon huntress gritted her teeth and stepped forward, but Trish calmly pushed her back and shook her head quietly.

“Break it up, break it up!” C. Viper exclaimed as she rose from the bed and stood in between both of the clashing sides. "You're all acting like a bunch of children right now!" Lady and Trish’s eyes went wide upon seeing their friend’s missing left arm.

“Maya, what the hell happened to your arm?!” the raven haired demon huntress asked as she tenderly held what was left of her friend’s arm. Pietro and Wanda tensed up when she had approached the agent, having thought she was going to attack.

The redheaded woman let out a sigh and formed a see through smile. “Had to get rid of it. It was crushed under some rubble that prevented me from escaping, so I had to do what I had to do.”

Trish brought the agent into a hug and pulled Lady in as well. “Atleast you made it out. We knew you were still alive.” the demoness said quietly while they were embracing one another.

“What? Did you get that damn call?” C. Viper asked with a brow raised after they let one another go. “They always send those out the minute an agent goes missing. I know someone who’s family got the call before since they were stuck in the bathroom.”

“Miss Maya…” Wanda began quietly, still catching the agent’s attention. She began backing herself to the wall, the anger in her eyes having been replaced with worry. “You are … _friends_ with a demon?” she asked. She felt very small again when all eyes in the room fell upon her.

Pietro looked back at the agent as well with a now concerned expression. “Is this true?”

C. Viper stepped away from her friends and walked towards the twins carefully, trying not to startle them. “Wanda, Pietro, it’s okay. Just hear me out, please.”

Surprisingly, Bulleta brought herself in front of Viper and had her oceanic orbs on the pale girl. “You don’t like demons. I know how that feels, trust me.” she began in a very calming voice that slowly lessened the heavy feeling on Wanda’s shoulders. “I don’t know what kind of shit you two went through, but I thought the same exact way until just recently, I found out there really are good demons.” she looked back at Trish, who smiled and nodded.

“Good demons?” Wanda repeated as she slowly placed herself beside her twin brother, instead of behind.

“Yeah, kid. There’s good demons and there’s bad demons.” added Lady while she crossed her arms. “Just like how there’s good humans and bad humans. You just gotta wade through all the bullshit to find those good types though, but they are there, I know that much.” she hung her arm over Trish’s neck and pulled her into a short side hug.

The psychic read the aura from within both women, demon and human. She still was having trouble believing they could co-exist but the evidence was right in front of her and it intrigued her greatly. “I understand now...” she simply said, slowly but surely accepting this concept.

After a few minutes passed everything had mostly calmed down, though the devil huntresses and the twins were still on shaky grounds having just fought violently earlier. Lady pulled C. Viper over to speak with her. “Alright, now that’s finally settled, let’s go?” the demon huntress asked the agent.

The redheaded woman shook her head in response. “You’ve seen this place. You’ve seen the fear this two kids have in demons. We can’t just leave.” she said quietly.

“She’s right.” agreed Trish. “Least we can do is find out what’s happening and take care of the problem right away.”

Lady pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. “I _hate_ when you guys guilt me into doing good things… but fine. We already know Maya’s safe so might as well keep the rest of this town safe, right?”

“Then it’s settled.” Trish smiled and looked over towards the twins that were sitting silently on the bed. “Hey, you two, we’re gonna--”

“Help us fight demons?” Wanda finished her sentence. “I heard this.”

The blonde demoness shot a glare towards her partner, “Why do you gotta be so loud sometimes?”

“No, I had read your minds.” the pale girl added with a nervous smile when the three women looked back at her. “Sorry. I was curious…”

“Can we trust you?” Pietro questioned, mostly aiming the question at Trish.

Trish walked over to the two with a gentle smile and she held out her hand towards them. “If I mess up, then you two can kill me.” Upon hearing this, Lady’s eyes nearly bulged out.

The twins shared a glance with one another and they subtly nodded, then both of their hands held onto Trish’s. “We trust you.” Wanda finally said.

\---

There was an aged map laid across the table for all to see as Wanda began to explain the situation their town was in to the demon huntresses. Pietro was preoccupied with strumming his guitar as he reclined back on a shabby wooden chair.

“Every single night demons come into our town for people to kill or kidnap.” the psychic explained then ran her finger over to what was the main bridge that allowed access into the town. “They go through here now. We tell everyone to hide and remain silent until they return to wherever they have came from. There have only been some situations where my brother and I were forced to fight them, which ended in towns being abandoned and people being evacuated to the next. But most of time we are able to remain quiet.”

“Alright, so we’ll just kill every single one of them, like usual right?” Bulleta commented casually with her hands inside her pockets.

“There is many of them. I do not think even my brother and I could handle them all ourselves.” Wanda looked back up to the blonde girl. “Do you think you have enough guns?”

“I got enough.” the devil huntress assured and flexed one of her arms. “Counting these as well.” she smugly stated and smiled at the psychic.

A small, flustered smile came across the telekinetic girl’s lips, while her twin brother rolled his eyes and resumed strumming his guitar. “I have looked into mind of one of the demons before,” she continued on. “I had to pull out because it had hurt much more than any other mind I've looked into... but all information I have gathered was that they are entering through portal somewhere on outskirts of town.”

Trish perked up in interest and asked, “Do you remember where it is?”

Wanda pulled out a red marker and drew a sloppy circle over an area that was halfway cut off from the map’s edges. “Somewhere around here. I have only checked for myself once but…” she put down the marker and didn’t meet the other’s eyes. “Something about the place was very… wrong. I was frightened and had to leave.”

“Hey, it’s alright, kid!” Lady patted the pale girl’s back reassuringly. “You got us this time and we ain’t scared of shit!” Wanda nodded nervously in thanks and returned the smile the older woman was giving her.

“If we are going to check portal, we do this now.” Pietro finally added in as he set aside his guitar. “There is still light in sky. Enough time to plan and scout, then tell the people in town about what we will be doing.”

“Let’s get going, then.” Viper said after putting a well worn sweater over her body.

\---

The walk to where the portal was located was a reasonable distance away, but Pietro was actively complaining in Sokovian about having to walk instead of run. His twin sister hadn’t bothered to respond and simply rolled her eyes with a smile. As they approached the area, which was made up of several destroyed houses, Wanda tensed up slightly but felt far more safer this time around with the others.

“I can smell them alright.” Trish said and jogged in the direction of the scent, with the others following closely.

It was a destroyed building with its walls being completely knocked over. The blonde demoness scanned the area and her eyes fell upon a simple basement door that was poorly hidden with a ripped carpet. She knelt down and tore the carpet away then reached for the handle, only for a ghostly apparition with a stretched out black mouth and empty eyes scream at her.

Everyone readied themselves to fight but Trish who only backed away and held her hand back at the others to calm them. She had paced back enough for the claws of the apparition to miss her as it returned back into the cellar door. “Another demon shield spell.” she said with a clicked of her tongue, but her interest was growing. “Who’s so important that they need all these barriers hiding them?”

The group returned to town and Pietro and Wanda began explaining the plan to the people who gathered around them in crowds while the others sat back and watched.

“ _We finally have a fighting chance with these people._ ” the speedster gestured towards the demon huntresses. “ _Maya says they are hunters who specialize in extermination of the creatures that attack us every night._ ”

“ _Their expertise is just what we need to fight the demons._ " the telekinetic girl added on but the people still looked unsure about the strange, foreign people with their dangerous weaponry.

“ _Wanda, Pietro, everyone here trusts you with their lives._ ” an elder man said as he approached the twins. “ _We may not hold the same beliefs in them as you, but we trust your judgement more than anyone’s._ ”

Pietro grinned and crossed his arms, “ _Good. Then you all shall remain in your hiding spots while we fight, then?_ ”

The old man shook his head, “ _I have been speaking with the others. The men and women capable wish to fight alongside you both. You two have already done so much, let us help you carry this burden in return!_ ” as soon as he said this the other townsfolk began to cheer in response.

The two twins looked at one another and back to the elder. “ _Very well._ ” Pietro confirmed and then stood up on an old bench to look over the crowd. “ _Everyone who is able to fight! Grab whatever weapon you can and prepare to be the line of defense for this town! Sokovia will pull through this war just as it always have!_ ”

The crowd erupted into fists being pumped into the air and cheers then they dispersed to gather weapons and supplies. Pietro hopped off the bench and walked over to the group with a smirk, “I didn’t expect I could have done that.” he said, slightly surprised at himself.

“Whatever you said, kid, it made me pumped as hell!” Lady punched her fists together. “So, what’s the plan?”

“The people here shall await in their spots but this time will be ready to fight back.” Wanda began explaining.

“I believe we should surprise attack the demons on their way here,” her twin brother suggested. “Give town some time to prepare and less demons to fight if it has to come down to that.”

“Right.” Trish agreed with a nod, “Pietro, Lady, Bulleta, think you three can handle the fighting?”

The speedster chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, “Just tell these two to keep up.” he said with a sly smirk that reminded the two demon huntresses so much of Dante.

“Yeah?” Bulleta challenged him, but this time much less hostile and more friendly. “Let’s see if you can run as fast as that mouth can.”

“And what of me?” asked Wanda.

“Wanda, if it’s okay, I would like your help in going inside the basement.” Trish said with soft eyes. “I have to find out what’s behind all this and if possible, end them. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“No-- I ... I want to go.” the telekinetic girl interjected. “I will do anything to protect my home.”

“Thank you.” the demoness smiled.

C. Viper called out to the group, catching their attention. “Don’t think you can forget about me, you kids.” she was back in her suit that had been patched up by Wanda, with the left sleeve flowing freely in the wind. “I may be minus one hand, but luckily I’m a righty and I’ll be damned if that’s gonna put me down.” she said as she rested a Dragunov sniper rifle over her shoulder.

Lady and Trish both smiled widely, while Bulleta admired her determination. Pietro stepped over to the agent and pointed towards a clock tower on the edge of the town. “That is good area for sniper. Overlooks bridge and all.” he explained.

“Perfect.” the redheaded woman said with a grin. She allowed the speedster to hold the rifle for a moment as she fished for something in her jacket, two small communicators for the twins, who accepted it. “Let’s keep in contact with this. I’ve already made it an open broadcast for all of us to to be able to connect to.”

“This will help. Thank you.” Pietro said after returning the rifle to the agent and fitted the device into his ear while his twin sister did the same.

“It is easier simply speaking in other’s minds.” she commented casually and her twin brother lightly tapped her on the arm. “What? I was joking!”

“Yes I know and that is usually my job to be making joke.” he teased and walked back to their shared home.

 _“It might be a long night so get your best gear.”_ C. Viper explained over the communications device.

Pietro discarded his ripped up jacket and worn t shirt for a light blue and black stylized long sleeve compression shirt. He donned navy fingerless gloves and a pair of goggles that hung around his neck. He hung a water canteen, then an old walkman on his belt and placed the headphones over his ears to test out the tape again before walking out.

Wanda removed her torn cardigan and used her abilities to fold it neatly down on her bed. She exchanged her snow stained thigh highs for leggings with only a few holes and replaced her black dress with a crimson one then threw over a well used black leather jacket over it. She used her telekinesis to tie her bootlaces while she looked into the dirtied mirror, performing a breathing technique to ease the anxious feeling that had been creeping up on her.

The twins walked out and met with the devil huntresses waiting outside for them. “Who is ready to kick ass?” the speedster boasted aloud alongside his twin sister who seemed much more confident now.

\---

“I went over the plan with Ray.” Trish spoke to her partner, “They still won’t be able to provide air support until I kill the demon who’s holding up the barrier. After that, they can get in and help Pietro, you and Red take out the horde.”

“It shouldn’t be that hard right?” Lady pondered, “Just point out whichever loser has the wizard hat or some shit.”

The sun was beginning to set and the snow slowly fell onto the ground as only the sound of the calm breeze blew through the plains. Pietro, Wanda, Lady and Trish were positioned near the abandoned row of buildings they had found. Bulleta and C. Viper were back at the town organizing everything and helping the people position themselves properly.

“Night fall.” Pietro stated once the light in the sky had disappeared completely. He shifted himself and looked over to his twin sister who was staring into the ground. “Wanda.” he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “ _Remember to breathe deep. We can do this._ ”

Wanda closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, then thanked her twin quietly. She sensed the presence of the demons rising from the grounds and a strange noise emitted from the abandoned building where the cellar door was located.

“They’re here. The spell to the door must’ve been opened.” Trish said as she sniffed at the air once. “If we attack now then they could retreat back into it and close it again. We have to wait until I find the demon responsible for all these shield spells first.”

Lady impatiently tapped on the base of Kalina Ann as her dual colored eyes stared hard as shadows begun appearing from the building. The demons were shrouded in darkness until the moon shed some light upon them.

Each demon resembled a horrifying mixture of a number of unrecognizable creatures. There appeared to be dozens or even hundreds of the frozen image of screaming faces stretched all over their melted, grey-scale colored bodies as they dragged themselves out of the building. Some resembled more humanoid shapes while others were more animalistic or otherwise unfathomable shapes that could have be seen in nightmares.

Wanda’s eyes were widened at the sight and her fingers gripped hard into the snow enough to tear at the grass underneath it. “They have never looked like that before…” she whispered to the others, unable to take her eyes off the abominations.

“I never seen anything like them before either.” said Lady with a more confused expression than frightened. “Trish, what do you think?”

“More reason to find out who or what the hell is sending these thing.” the demoness simply replied to her partner. The twins were surprised at their casualness, but mentally agreed with one another that their professionalism was possibly the explanation of it.

“There is so many…” Wanda had already lost count at the immense numbers of demons pouring out of the building and towards the town. “We must act quick. They will reach town soon.”

“Hey Red, hope everyone’s ready there because they’re coming and there’s a shit load of them.” Lady spoke into her communicator.

_“Almost. How many can you count?”_

“Dude, fuck counting, I failed my math classes.” the raven haired woman immediately shot down her question and she heard the other girl chuckling from the other line.

 _“Honestly, I hope these people don’t have to fight.”_ Bulleta began, sounding a bit worried. _“I think they’ve seen enough shit.”_

“Is not a problem, Blondie.” Pietro responded into his communicator, “Us Sokovians are toughest of them all.” he nodded to his twin sister with a smile.

 _“I don’t doubt it, Speedy.”_ she paused for a moment and there were muffled noises for a moment before she returned to the line. _“Everyone’s ready now. I’m gonna meet up with you guys in a minute, don’t start the party without me.”_

Trish watched carefully as what it appeared to be the last demon walk out of the building. After waiting a few moments, her hands gripped on the hilt of the Sword of Sparda and she stood up. “That last demon is the one responsible for the shields.”

“I can see it is stronger than the others.” Wanda stood up as well as the others. “What is plan for that?”

The demoness turned around and her hand crackled with electricity. “Same for the rest. Beat it down until it stops moving.”

**To Be Continued...**


	15. Don't Look

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle begins as our heroes face against the hordes of demons that advance towards the Sokovian town. Just where are these demons coming from exactly?

Trish ran up towards the shield demon with the Sword of Sparda readied. With her free hand, she shot down a golden magical lighting trap to its feet and it visibly was affected by this, but it hadn’t made a single noise. The demoness teleported all around the electrocuted demon and continuously hacked at it with Sparda. She proved far too quick for the demon and the hundreds of mouths that decorated its body extended wide as if emitting a inaudible roar. She looked back to see the other demons began to slowly shamble their way towards her and she readied herself.

“Let’s make this quick.” Pietro said to himself with a smirk and pulled his goggles over his eyes. He stood up and placed his earphones in, playing a cassette tape that read _Rebel Yell_ by _Billy Idol_ on his walkman. Everything slowed down as he sped towards the demons that were limping their way to the demoness.

She had only seen a blue colored ripple in the air and the demons that surrounded her were immediately flung away. The demoness smiled and returned her attention to the shield demon and fired another burst of electricity at its body. Her eyes flashed a blue and yellow glow back and forth and she channeled her demonic energy into Sparda as she performed multiple slices at the demon in mere seconds.

Lady and Wanda ran into the fray, with the older woman heaving Kalina Ann and planting it down vertically. The demon huntress pulled the alternate trigger and a burst of mini homing rockets flew into the air and then straight down into the horde, creating multiple explosions that ripped the devils apart.

The telekinetic girl waved her hands in a circular motion and the red aura appeared around her hands. She let out a grunt and pushed forward, her magic blasting the enemy away, some who were much closer to her being completely obliterated from being hit point blank. She noticed despite the attacks they were doing, the demons remained in an almost passive-like state, mostly shambling about and only performing the occasional slow lunge towards someone.

Pietro brought his knee up to a demon’s face and shattered it in different directions, then followed it up with delivering powerful haymakers into any devil that had gotten in his sights. He skidded and slowed down, then ran around a group of demons in a continuous circle. His speed eventually created a small but powerful tornado that enveloped any unlucky demon inside, tearing them apart inside.

The shield demon Trish had been facing off against finally fell to its knees and burned in a strange purple fire until nothing of it was left. She looked up to see the demonic barrier that had surrounded them all disappeared and she grinned at her accomplishment. “Ray, the shield is down. Get ready to provide air support.”

_“Roger that, ma’am.”_

“This is easier than I thought.” the blonde said to herself before she thrusted Sparda into another shambling demon then delivered another slice to one that had attempted sneaking up behind her. “Too easy…” she whispered, her brows furrowed when noticing the demons that were still alive began to spasm violently. _I shouldn’t have said anything…_

“They’re screaming…” Wanda stuttered out as she backed away from the jittering demons. There was absolutely no noise coming from them but the mouths that were scattered across their bodies grew larger and larger in agony.

Pietro ran to her side and removed his earphones, equally as confused as the others. “This would make it easier to hit them, no?” he quipped, trying to ease his mind from the slightly disturbing sight.

After a few minutes passed and the demons remained stationary, but still continuously shaking and ‘screaming.’ Trish looked back to the cellar door that the demons had emerged from and made a jog towards it. Wanda noticed the demoness and she turned over to her twin, “Trish is going into cellar now.”

“Will you be okay?” he asked her, worry plastered across his face.

The telekinetic girl barely nodded and after a few seconds of silence between the twins she ran to follow Trish, calling for her to wait.

Lady finished reloading Kalina Ann and she continued to aim at the demons. “Are we gonna start killing them or what?” she asked the speedster without taking her eyes off the enemy.

Before Pietro could even respond, the demons suddenly became more ferocious in appearance, their bodies appearing to melt and the faces looked even ghastlier. They began to charge at surprising speeds at the two instead of slowly shambling around.

The devil huntress cursed aloud and fired her rocket launcher at an incoming group of demons. She repeated this while Pietro dashed straight into the horde and delivered a series of punches and kicks in the blink of an eye to hundreds of demons. “If I had known it would’ve been this fucked up...” Lady gritted her teeth as she used Kalina Ann’s bayonet to slice a demon that had gotten too close for comfort in two. “I would have brung more guns to kill you all with!” she screamed out and fired another set of burst rockets that took out another group that was advancing towards her.

After the speedster sent a straight punch that knocked off a demon’s head clean off, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He looked up to see that the rest of the horde were making their way towards the town and he balled up his fists, then rammed through the wall of demons that were in between him and the demon huntress. “We have to fall back!” he told her after tackling a devil near her flank. “Most of them are going for town!”

“Alright, can you get us both there?” she asked him, but being more preoccupied with firing at the few approaching demons with her Skorpion submachine gun.

“I can do this.” he responded and picked her up without much regard, much to her annoyance. He held a hand on her head and secured it, which resulted in a glare from the devil huntress.

“Why are you holding my head?”

Pietro looked at her as if she asked the strangest question in the world. “So you do not get whiplash.”

“What?”

“Whiiiip. Laaassh.”

Before she could even respond again, he sped them away past the horde that had continued their rush towards the town.

\---

Wanda and Trish discovered strange monochromatic caverns upon entering the cellar door, they were almost unnatural. The walls seemed to have been covered in a strange black substance so the two didn’t even consider touching it to find out what it was made of. The tunnels were completely silent, even their footsteps seemed to have been silenced. As they traversed deeper and deeper the light from the moon that had peaked from the exit disappeared from sight and Trish had to use her electricity to light the way as they continued on.

The telekinetic girl stayed close to the demoness, almost wishing she could atleast hold her hand for some bits of comfort, but she still felt weary about the woman’s demonic origins. The silence was making her feel anxious and it felt like her mind began to play games with her when she thought she heard what sounded like a very small whisper. She decided to keep moving and not look back.

Trish was growing annoyed at the eeriness of the cave as well and only one glance back at the girl behind her was enough to know she too was on edge. She decided to start up conversation as an attempt to ease her. “You can do magic too, right?” she asked, practically being a whisper at this point due to the lack of noise.

“Just little bit.” answered the psychic in a hushed tone as well. “I am still learning.”

“Hey, maybe after this I can teach you some things I know?” the demoness offered and smiled back at the girl, who shakily smiled back and nodded. It returned to silence for a few moments until Wanda was the one to start a conversation instead.

“When we find who is responsible. What do we do?” she asked.

“Well...” Trish trailed off, having almost forgotten why she had ventured down here. It was half curiosity and half to kill whatever was causing this mess. Her curiosity did grow more and more she traveled in these dark tunnels, but she remembered she had a mission to fulfill. “Kill it. Hopefully its death will end the other ones outside too.”

“I hope so too.”

The silence that surrounded them was suddenly cut short once the sound of distant screaming came from even deeper in the caverns. Wanda tensed up and her hands lit up with her faded red aura, while Trish pulled out one of her handguns and aimed towards their path. She kept the weapon trained forward after the two shared a nod and continued on carefully. It wasn’t just the tension that made their bodies feel hot, for some reasons unexplainable the cold air inside the tunnels suddenly warmed up.

\---

Pietro and Lady have caught up with Bulleta, who was already fighting off the demons by herself. “I thought you guys would never come!” she said and reloaded her Uzi while Lady provided her covering fire.

“This fight’s not over yet, Red!l” the raven haired woman responded confidently and fired her rocket launcher at the horde again.

Pietro rammed straight into the demons again and created another tornado that either pulled them apart or sent them flying into a different direction. Time slowed down for him and he hopped over a rocket fired from Lady and brought down his elbow on the neck of another demon. He rushed past another line of devils and landed a couple of direct blows into their bodies. The speedster felt himself losing his breath but he had to continue to push on.

As the three finished off the demons that had been near their position, they looked on over the hill to see yet another crowd of the sprinting devils rushing forward. “You have to be kidding.” the speedster groaned as he took a moment to catch his breath.

“Air support! Now!” Lady ordered into her communicator and a Quinjet whizzed past the three.

 _“This is Ray! Entering Hot Zone, take cover!”_ Ray piloted the jet and released a barrage of bullets and rockets into the demons, tearing them all apart and spreading their numbers thin. They had destroyed the wave and let out a sigh of relief, only to detect another wave of demons. _“More hostiles approaching!”_ they warned to their comrades on the ground.

The demons were growing much more aggressive as the battle raged on, some even merging with one another to form even larger beasts. The most unnerving aspect of their rage is that they still made not a single noise and the faces on their bodies have become warped and twisted. The battlefield felt completely silent this way, despite the explosions and gunfire. A couple of demons formed a flying variant and set their sights on Ray.

Lady held up Kalina Ann and fired a single rocket towards the airborne demons. The rocket then opened up and split into three that homed in on each demon, taking them out of the sky. Ray thanked the devil huntress before firing incendiary rounds into the horde and lit them all aflame. The battle continued to rage on but more and more devils poured in and they were forced once again to pull back once they began to get too close.

Pietro slowed down and held onto his side, a demon had managed to get a lucky hit on him. He was breathing heavily and holding onto part of a broken fence for support. With his free hand, he started downing his water canteen until it was already half gone.

“Fuck, I did not bring enough ammo for this...” Bulleta cursed as she rechecked her magazines inside her jacket. More demons continued to push forward and it almost seemed there was an endless amount of them.

Lady brushed the blood away from a small gash on her cheek with her sleeve. She set down Kalina Ann and loaded up the last of the rockets into it. “Last rockets… and there’s still more of them coming.” she said as she watched Ray cover them as they recollected themselves. Without Ray and the Quinjet, they would’ve been already pushed back into town, so she knew protecting her pilot was one of the top priorities. “Trish, I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, but I could use you here now…”

\---

They thought they were alone. Three figures that resembled mummified corpses emerged from the cavern walls and slowly shambled towards the two. Upon closer inspection, their eyes and mouths seemed to be an endless void of black. The silence was broken and the corpses were letting out ear piercing screams at the two. The screams sounded very angry and almost human-like, with what seemed to be a mess of languages and voices jumbled together in unison to scream.

Upon hearing the screams, Wanda froze up and she felt a sharp pain in her chest, suddenly having trouble breathing. She was hyperventilating now and was unable to help Trish fight the corpses.

The blonde demoness fired Luce into the corpses, each bullet tearing through their body but they continued to scream and shout at them. Their bodies suddenly began to move very naturally and fluidly, minus their heads that spazzed about violently. They corpses picked up rocks from the ground floor and tossed them at the two as if they were an angry mob. Wanda panicked even more when one of the rocks whizzed by her head and she held her hands onto her ears in an attempt to block out the noise.

“Shut the fuck up!” Trish shouted back at the corpses and fired a charged shot into them. The electricity connected into the three corpses and they let out a final shout before crumpling into the ground. Strangely, they didn’t fade from a purple flame like the other demons atop, but they remained on the ground, their expression still frozen in place. Were they even demons?

 _No… of course they’re demons._ Trish told herself and checked back up on Wanda, who was staring with wide eyes at the corpses. “Wanda. Breathe.” she told her in a calming, soothing voice. After a few minutes of deep breathes, the telekinetic girl slowly got back up to her feet. She was still shaky and nodded to the demoness that she was okay.

“You don’t have to come with me. We can turn back if you want.” she told the girl, who’s usual pale face even looked more drained of color.

“N-No…” Wanda stuttered, almost automatically. She hadn’t a clue why she refused going back out. “We continue…”

Trish had a worried expression across her face and placed her handgun back in her holster before taking the girl’s hand. They continued forward, both keeping a watchful eye on the shriveled corpses they passed by. Once they made some distance, Wanda turned back for a moment only to see the corpses were suddenly gone. She moved her attention forward again and gripped on Trish’s hand even tighter.

She heard the corpses screaming in many languages, but one of them was in picked up most clearly by her, the one in her mother tongue. The words she heard most clear from the violent shouting scrambled around in her head repeatedly. _‘Freak.’ ‘Abomination.’ ‘Mutant.'_  She didn’t know how to tell the demoness this so she remained quiet.

They saw what appeared to be lanterns in the distance and the two continued on. The screams that they had been following seemed to be coming from the lit room and it grew louder and louder the closer they approached it. With slight hesitation, the two entered the room and suddenly the screaming were cut silent. There room was much larger, almost man made in appearance with the evidence of old, barely lit, lanterns hung around the room. There was not a single sound in the room, only a sense of dread that enveloped Trish and Wanda. The two stayed low and stuck to the shadows, hiding behind a few of the only natural rock formations in the room.

Trish felt a strange presence that she knew came from the middle of the room and she slowly peeked out from behind the rocks to see what it was. Wanda only saw that there was a look of pure horror on the woman’s face. After a moment of hesitation that felt like hours, she slowly stood herself up to see for herself. She regretted it immediately.

A hand was brought over her eyes and she was firmly pushed back down into cover. “Wanda, don’t look!” the demoness begged in a hush tone. “Whatever you do, don’t look at it!”

It was far too late. Wanda was once again hyperventilating to the point she felt like she was suffocating. Her eyes were going red from the tears that began pouring from them. She could barely hear Trish under the ear piercing sound of millions of voices screaming inside her head. Her palms clamped against both of her ears in a fruitless attempt to block the noise out, but it was slipping through her fingers. She only wanted it all to stop.

\---

Pietro was barely holding himself up and he had already finished his water canteen. He felt a strange feeling in his head and a disgruntled look came across his face. Bulleta broke him out of it as she called to him and tossed her water canteen to him. He caught it and thanked her quietly, then took a reasonable swig from it. They were now backed into the bridge that connected the town.

“Could we blow the bridge when they try to cross it?” asked Lady as she wiped the sweat from her brow away. She only had her Desert Eagle handgun left, her Skorpion submachine gun having been lost in the crowd of demons and an emptied Kalina Ann stayed strapped on her back.

“It may work...” the speedster responded, slightly unsurely. “Below this bridge is fall high enough to kill anything.”

Bulleta rechecked her M9 Beretta handgun once more and stood up to her feet. “It’s not like the demons can get past the gap anyway.”

They saw one of the demons suddenly shift direction and jump right past the gap, but it was suddenly shot out of the air and sent falling into the pit below. C. Viper was at the tower with her sniper rifle, having just shot the demon. “We are not letting them through...” she said under her breath.

The three looked back into the town and the Sokovian freedom fighters bursted out from rooftops and began firing at the incoming demons. Another set of fighters ran past the three and pushed forward at the horde. Ray flew their Quinjet over them and continued their attack on the hordes as well. Pietro cracked his neck and pushed his burning legs forward into the crowd of demons to ram as much as he could into to the pit. Bulleta and Lady both let out battle cries as they resumed firing alongside the freedom fighters.

\---

Trish stared at the … _thing_ before her. She had absolutely no idea what it was, but whatever it was it disturbed her far more than anything she had ever experienced. But she couldn’t take her eyes off of it.

In the middle of the room was a crater, deep inside the crater was two things: pure darkness and the ‘thing.’ It was a creature of indescribable proportions. It was constantly changing shape and spazzing violently inside the crater. There was an uncountable amount of writhing limbs that resembled tentacles and arms that thrashed about the crater. It clawed at the walls of the deep crater it was in, almost as if it was trying to drag itself out. Thousands of bloodshot, empty black eyes were placed all over its grey scale body randomly, said body constantly changing ‘skins’ ranging from ones that resembled ashes, goop, bones, or rock.

Whatever it was inside the crater, Wanda was the only one who could hear it perfectly. The creature was the source of all the screaming and she refused to look back at it. Despite its black eyes having no pupils, she knew it looked back at her when she saw it for the split second she had before Trish shut her eyes.

Trish managed to tear her own eyes away from the creature and backed herself under cover to focus on Wanda. “Wanda. Breathe.” she said in her soothing voice once again, trying to hide the slowly rising panic and distress she was feeling. “Focus on me. On my face.”

The telekinetic girl slowly opened her eyes and the demoness wiped the constant tears away. She nodded and focused on the woman’s face. “Focus on the features of my face. When you name something I want you to take a deep breath. Then go on to the next feature and do the same.”

Wanda silently followed her instructions and did as she was told. The screamings were still tearing her mind apart but she was fighting hard against them while trying to ease her flaring anxiety. She continued doing so and Trish radioed her twin brother to get her out immediately.

Trish continued in her attempts to ease the girl’s pain, wiping away the blood that dripped from her nose and the relentless tears from the edges of her eyes. “I-I can feel… all the anger…” Wanda stuttered out, her voice sounding very distant. “A-All the anger… and the h-hatred. “ she breathed in, her eyes were wide open and her mouth was agape. “I-In many w-worlds… they are a-all s-screaming in my head. It i-is… that t-thing…”

She felt like her vision was fading away, but she still tried focusing on the woman’s face. “W-We… have… t-to… k-kill… it…” when she had said this, the screaming grew even louder inside her head and she broke off from her focus and clawed at her own face and pulling on her hair. “S-STOP! P-PLEASE, ALL OF Y-YOU! GET OUT OF M-MY HEAD!”

Pietro rushed into the caverns and into the room they were inside in an instant, he was wheezing now and he nearly dropped onto the ground next to the two. “Wanda!” he called out to his twin sister and pulled her into a hug, trying to comfort her.

“Get her as far away from this place as you can, now!” Trish ordered through her teeth at the younger man.

The speedster nodded and wasted no time picking up his twin sister who was thrashing and screaming in his arms. He tried to hold her steady and he looked at the demoness then in the direction of whatever it was in the crater. “What is doing this to her?”

“What the hell did I just say?! Get out!” she was screaming now, her composure was slipping from her. She knew whatever it was is hurting Wanda due to her psychic gifts, but she couldn't afford any chances that it will do something different to her twin brother.

“What about you!?”

“I’ll catch up, just go!” with that said, Pietro held his twin sister in his arms protectively and sped out of the caverns.

Trish’s hands balled up into fists and she turned her attention back at the thing inside the crater. She just realized all of its eyes had diverted its attention on her now.

“What the fuck are you…” she asked in a near hushed tone.

The creature didn’t respond. It only stared back at her.

\---

Pietro sped past Lady and Bulleta, backed up by the freedom fighters, they were barely holding off the hordes of demons now. He retreated into the nearest house and slowly set Wanda down onto the ground. She broke from his hands and scrambled into the corner, whimpering and crying quietly.

The voices had finally left her head but the traumatizing experience still remained in her head. She tried pushing the image of the creature inside the crater away from her mind but it was all she could think of. She heard her twin brother speaking to her in between his breathes.

“Wanda...” he said carefully as he knelt down close to her. She took her hands off from her face and she went to her brother and cried into his dirtied shirt. He held onto his sister tight, “ _You’re safe now._ ” he whispered repeatedly in their mother language in her ear.

\---

Trish had tried every conceivable attack and spell she knew and nothing happened. She listened to Wanda’s words about killing it and she was more than glad to grant her wish after what it had done to her, but it amounted to absolutely nothing of comfort. The only thing she noticed that threw off her short lived confidence was the creature inside the crater slowly grew larger each attack she threw at it. Its arms had been extended even further now and the eyes stared deep into her soul.

“What…” she was nearly silent for a moment, until she broke. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" she began shouting and screaming at the thing with all of her anger. Her hands gripped hard into Luce and Ombra as she fired a haze of electrified bullets into the crater and continued yelling until she had strained out her voice.

It only grew in size after that.

 _Anger… hatred…_ Wanda’s voice rung inside the demoness’ head and she slowly placed her handguns behind her. She knew she had no choice but to leave now.

Trish sprinted out of the room, feeling as if the thing pulled itself out of the crater and began chasing her, but she had no desire to even look back to see if her assumptions were correct. She kept running and running through the caverns that felt much more longer than before. The charred, mummified corpses appeared from the walls again, this time being much greater in number. They didn’t attack her, they only screamed at her.

She continued on, trying not to focus on the hundreds of screaming corpses that stared at her with their endless black eyes. Her eyes stuck to the ground, only glancing up at times to confirm she was going in the right direction. She didn’t want to look back at any of the corpses, the voices were already too much, but hearing her friends’ voices amongst them all was much worse than anything she had ever endured in her life.

 _“You’re just like the rest of **them**!”_ That was Maya’s voice.

 _“Why did you let me **suffer** in there?!”_ That was Wanda’s.

 _“You **hurt** my sister and everyone here!” _ Pietro’s.

 _“Leave me **alone**! I don’t want you anywhere near me!”_ Patty’s.

 _“You make me fucking **sick**!” _ Wade’s.

 _“I should have **killed** you when I had the chance!”_ Bulleta.

 _“How dare you hold my father's weapons and my mother's face, you worthless **demon** scum!”_ Dante.

The only one that wasn’t even shouted towards her hurt her the most.

 _“It’s funny how you really think I care about you. I don’t give a shit about you. **No one does**. Why would I ever be friends with a fucking **demon**? Don’t you ever dare show your **face** around me ever again. Especially one that wasn’t even yours to begin with.”_ That was Lady.

“M-Mary...” Trish felt her body burning and tears fighting to be released from her eyes.

_‘Demon!’ ‘Puppet!’ ‘Slave!’ ‘Creature!’ ‘Fake!’ ‘Liar!’ ‘Whore!’ ‘Go **back** to Hell!’ ‘You are **not** Eva!’_

She finally let out a blood curdling scream as she closed her eyes and rushed out. The demoness pushed herself further and tripped over a step and into snow. She was finally outside. The voices were gone now. In a panic, she scrambled herself to her feet and finally looked back into the caverns. It was pure darkness for a moment, until the mummified corpses slowly began creeping from the shadows. She slowly backed away and made a grab for her handguns, until she felt a pair of hands grab her arms, causing her to nearly scream out again. She pried the hands off of her and she turned back to see…

“Trish, it’s okay!” Lady said with her hands raised up in surprise. “It’s just me.” she was bruised and a bit bloody, her clothes having been dirtied and roughed up from the fight. “We managed to take them all out and--” she noticed her friend was crying. “H-Hey, what’s wrong?”

The devil huntress approached her friend slowly but stopped in place when the blonde took a step back in response. She was also constantly darting her eyes back at the cellar and to the raven haired woman.

Trish didn’t know what to believe, but she took her chances. She turned her back and looked into the caverns, the mummified corpses were still staring at her, not attacking or even yelling this time. She gathered up her senses and summoned a spell down on the cellar, a shield to keep anything from escaping. The corpses continued to stare and this prompted her to rush over and drag a large piece of debris over the entrance of the caverns, covering it completely. The demoness dropped down onto her knees, with Lady rushing over to catch her.

“I’m here, Trish!” she called out and held the woman in her arms, there was near silent whimpering coming from her. “I’m here… it’s okay now.” she assured her friend in a soft tone.

“M-...” the demoness wrapped her arms around her friend’s body tight. “Please don’t leave me.” she repeated over and over.

She thought she heard her real name coming from Trish, but Lady decided to ignore it and continue comforting her with whispers of reassurance and small kisses to her forehead. “I won’t ever leave you... I promise...”

\---

Pietro, Wanda, C. Viper and Bulleta looked over the hill to see Lady carrying Trish on her back. The raven haired woman slowly eased her friend down onto the ground once they reached the others. The twins approached the blonde demoness first, she looked absolutely shaken but still trying to maintain her usual composure. Pietro handed a water canteen to her and she accepted it gratefully, downing it all in seconds. After finishing it, Trish and Wanda shared a sympathetic look with one another and hugged eachother. They both felt completely drained and knew no one should ever have to deal with what they experienced. After they broke off from their hug, C. Viper pulled Trish into another comforting hug as well.

Later back in town, the freedom fighters gathered around to have a short celebration the victory with the rest of the townspeople. Lady and Trish were watching, with the demoness having a blanket wrapped around her and a steaming cup of hot chocolate in her hands that she took slow sips from. Bulleta and C. Viper met up with the two and joined them in watching over the people.

“We could not have done this without you all.” Pietro spoke up, having appeared from the sides. Wanda was at his side, still looking drained, but had enough energy to stand. “We cannot thank you all enough. What can we do in exchange?”

There was a silence inbetween the four for a moment, until Trish spoke up slowly and carefully. “Just get everyone here as far away from this place as possible… it’s not safe here anymore.” she said. She wasn’t entirely sure the spell she had put out could even hold the creatures that were inside the caverns back for so long.

The white haired speedster looked confused for a moment, but his twin sister seemed to understand completely. “We will be out by morning.” Wanda answered for them both. The brother decided not to interject and simply nodded.

The twins walked out with the four towards the Quinjet that awaited them.

“You two can visit us in America anytime you want, you know.” Lady said with a warm smile towards the young siblings.

“Of course.” responded Pietro with a grin. “If Wanda is okay with getting water in hair? Running across ocean sounds fun, no?” he asked, turning towards his sister.

“Why can’t we just take plane, like everyone else?” she retorted with a raised brow.

The speedster looked mildly offended, “Where is fun in that?”

Bulleta lightly jabbed his chest, “Oi, if you guys just need a plane ticket we can always send the money.” she pointed out with a small smile.

Pietro’s mouth went open and he looked back and forth towards his twin and to the blonde demon huntress. “That is also good idea!”

“Please brother,” Wanda rolled her eyes playfully. “We will work and make the money ourselves.” she said and her twin groaned in response.

C. Viper extended her hand out towards the twins, “I can’t begin how grateful I am--” she was interrupted when the twins suddenly pulled her into a hug.

“We will miss you very much!” Pietro said, acting almost child like.

“Be sure to send postcard and visit with your daughter next time.” Wanda added in.

While her twin brother shook hands with the two demon huntresses, Wanda gave Trish one last hug. The demoness felt completely touched and dug her face into the younger girl’s shoulder. “I’m still gonna teach you the magic I know, okay kid?” she told the telekinetic girl, who nodded and smiled.

After the four were seated inside the Quinjet, Wanda and Pietro waved to them from outside. “Goodbye!” the psychic called to them.

“I do not believe in ‘ _goodbyes!’_ Only good laters! Because we will see you soon, yes?” the speedster said to the four. “Good later!”

The twins continued to wave as they watched the Quinjet rise up from the snow and take off into the sky.

\---

After they all thanked Ray for their assistance during the battle, they took their places back in the jet. C. Viper was resting in the medical section of the jet, with Bulleta reapplying a fresh new bandage to her amputation, the two making conversation to pass the time. While this was happening, Lady and Trish sat together in silence, being much more closer than they were before.

In her weary eyes, the blonde demoness had an near empty gaze that focused on nothing. Her best friend held her tight and stroked her face and hair softly. Not a word was said and the two eventually fell asleep in eachother’s arms.

**To Be Continued...**


	16. Schooled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time passes by as the Devil May Cry staff have absolutely nothing to do that actually put their skills to use. Bulleta herself is the most annoyed by the lack of missions, finally considering joining in on something most people her age are apart of.

It has been a month since C. Viper was rescued and brought back home. The agent having earned herself two medals for her service, a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. She even received a fully paid leave to allow her much needed time to rest and spend with her daughter. To demonstrate her gratitude to the Maximoff twins that had saved her from the wreckage in the first place, she requested that S.H.I.E.L.D. provide relief support for the people of Sokovia and any other of its neighboring countries that required it. The twins still stay in contact with her and the three demon huntresses, who have also been living quietly since the event.

In the Devil May Cry office, its various employees lounged around in relaxation as per usual. Dante was preoccupying himself with his usual cat naps on the couch, a half emptied pizza box laid on his chest. Wade, out of his usual costume, grabbed a slice of pizza from the box and went back to his conversation in what could be assumed a video call on his smartphone. With a box of Chinese takeout food in her hand, Trish took her seat on the other couch next to Lady, who was watching random videos on her laptop. The raven haired opened her mouth without taking her eyes off the screen and the blonde fed her one small bite of chicken before returning to having some herself.

The office doors opened and Trish, Lady and Wade looked up momentarily to see Bulleta greeting them all before closing the doors quietly. She had noticed Dante was still asleep after all. The blonde took off her beanie and fluffed her hair a bit as she walked into the kitchen.

Jobs have been very few and far between lately for the Devil May Cry staff, most of them didn’t even involve demons at all. One had been an elderly woman who needed help with her computer, she had dialed the wrong number and didn’t expect a group of armed young people barge into her door, but she was glad they came to her aide anyway. It ended with Lady simply pressing the power button on the computer and the old woman rewarded the team with some sweet home cooking and five dollar allowances.

Another ‘job’ was called in at 2:00 AM, turning out to be a drunk teenager who had gotten stuck inside a bucket swing made for infants. The next minutes after the team had arrived were spent with Wade, Lady and Dante laughing at the teen, while Bulleta and Trish struggled to pry him off from the bucket swing while his friends watched in horror.

It was after these events they considered changing the number to their office, but eventually they voted to not change it, as these things atleast distracted them for a moment.

“You took a while walking Patty to the bus, Red.” Trish commented after finishing up the last of the takeout, then setting it down on the table.

Bulleta closed the fridge after retrieving a prepared protein shake from it. After taking a large swig from it, she wiped her mouth and answered, “Went to the gym after.” She lifted up Dante’s legs, then took a seat on the couch and allowed her friend’s legs to rest on her lap. “Also I wanna start school.”

Wade nearly choked on his pizza upon hearing this and his earphones fell out. “School?! You’re way too cool for school, kid!”

“I’m pretty sure everyone who ever said that is having fun being cool working behind a grill.” the blonde responded with a slight smug expression, then took another drink.

“Yeah, Spongebob _is_ pretty cool.” the merc said and looked back into his phone after putting his earphones back in. His attention was returned back to whomever he was speaking to on the video call, “Oh come on, new Spongebob is frickin’ garbage! Like, a stank ass hobo drowning in rotten milk while crapping himself garbage, not garbage like these Tumblr kids call themselves a lot nowadays. ”

“Well, that’s cool.” Trish spoke up after wiping her lips with a tissue. “There’s a highschool in this area we could always get you in.”

“Fantastic.” Bulleta said, picking up Dante’s legs again to let herself off the couch. “Let’s go then.”

This time, the half devil woke up and he hugged his pizza box defensively. “You wanna go right now?” he asked, slightly making the others jump at his unexpected awakening. “Didn’t you just get home kid?”

The blonde girl shrugged her shoulders and finished up the protein shake. “Yeah, but I want something to do atleast. Besides, uh...” she trailed off and rubbed the back of her head. “Watching Patty hop on the bus and greet a bunch of her friends happily made me feel left out, so I kinda wanna experience that whole highschool thing.”

“Then what are waiting for?!” Lady shut her laptop, tossed it aside, and jumped off the couch. “Highschool is the most fun someone your age can have, we’re taking you there right now!”

“'Most fun' my left butt cheek with the Hello Kitty tattoo!” Wade scoffed with a wave of his hand.

Dante clicked his tongue and set the pizza box on the table after taking a slice for himself. “Wade, you keep talkin’ like that and you’re gonna be growing white hairs real quick.”

“You’re right, I’d end up looking like you and we all know that would actually make this ugly mug of mine worse!” the mercenary snickered and got up to walk towards the kitchen, the half devil rolling his eyes in response and continued munching on his slice

Trish was setting down the directions to the highschool in town on her phone while grabbing a jacket from the coat rack. “I’ll warm up the car,” she announced to the others before leaving through the doors. “Whenever you’re ready, Red.”

The white haired demon hunter let out a sigh and got up from the couch, not even bothering to dress out of his pajamas that consisted of crimson basketball shorts and a black tank top. Though he did bring the pizza box with him. “Guess I’m hopping on this train too.” he said as he put his feet into a pair of fluffy pink sandals. “Wade, you comin’?”

Wade poked his head from the kitchen and waved his phone at his friend. “Nah, not today, I’m gonna start cleaning soon. Plus I’m still on call with my girl!” he explained, slightly lying on the cleaning part. He still didn’t feel at all confident walking around in public without his mask. He had been glad his friends were able to accept his scarred appearance much quicker than other people have. The mercenary brushed the feeling off when his fiancee, Vanessa, on the other line began opening up the gifts he had sent her.

“Seeya later Wade.” Bulleta called to the merc and he waved back. She wore her beanie again and walked out with Lady, who was speaking about her various highschool experiences. The blonde couldn’t help but smile hearing this and the fact her friends were so very willing to help her with her request. The two walked towards Trish’s car, the woman berating Dante who was casually eating pizza in her car.

\---

They pulled up to the side of Emi Margaret Highschool, a fairly large school located a fair distance away from the Devil May Cry office. Trish locked the car as Bulleta and Lady looked at the school in slight wonder, with Dante still devoting most of his attention to the final slice of pizza he had.

The four walked into the office of the school, with Trish doing most of the talking to the staff there. The principal of the school met with the demoness and gestured for her and the other three to step into his office.

“Miss Sparda, was it?” the principal asked Trish as she pushed up her glasses after taking her seat.

Dante shot a glance to the demoness and propped himself against the doorframe, while the three girls took up the only seats.

“Yes, but please, just call me Trish...” she corrected, always having been uncomfortable having to use that last name in situations like this. She could feel Dante’s ice blue eyes on the back of her head.

“So, Trish, you want to enroll…” the principal trailed off, her eyes going over to Bulleta who sat patiently in her seat.

Trish, Lady and Dante all collectively froze up when they heard the principal say this. How could they forget to ask what Bulleta’s real name was? The three nearly panicked until the girl herself quickly spoke up.

“Katrina.” Bulleta said after clearing her throat, “Katrina Krieger.” Her oceanic eyes looked over at Trish and then back to the principal. “But if you’re gonna address me, address me directly. I may be 16 years old but I’m an emancipated minor so I’m free to make all the decisions myself and I hope you respect me maturely enough to support me.”

The principal looked a bit surprised, but impressed. The devil huntress’ friends however, were already used to her maturity and ability to take charge of situations despite her age. They still felt impressed with her though.

“Well, Miss Krieger, we’d be glad to have you as part of our student body.” the principal began, “May we offer you a general knowledge test first so we can see where you can fit best?”

Bulleta smiled, looked about her friends, then nodded towards the principal, “Sure.”

“Then follow me into the next room.” the older woman said and got out of her seat. “Your friends can wait in the office while you take the test.”

\---

Dante was nearly falling asleep again on one of the comfortable chairs in the office, while Lady and Trish watched patiently through the window of the room that Bulleta was in. The principal brought a small stack of short tests based on multiple subjects to the desk and a pencil for her to write with. The older woman smiled and told the girl to take her time and call her when she’s finished before returning to her own personal office.

The two demon huntresses could see Bulleta looking at the tests in deep thought, then suddenly speeding through each test in minutes. Her oceanic eyes were darting all around the papers and her pencil was making audible scratching, she paused for some moments to erase some mistakes for she had been going a bit too fast, but she managed to complete all of them in half an hour. She called for the principal, who looked a bit unsure at first, until she looked over the results herself. The uneasy expression quickly shifted into a satisfied smile and she shook the devil huntress’ hand and spoke, but Lady and Trish couldn’t hear due to the room’s door being closed. They only saw Bulleta’s smile growing wider each second the passed.

The principal walked out with Bulleta following behind her and Trish slapped Dante’s chest to wake him up. “Miss Krieger here certainly is full of surprises.” she began, gesturing to the girl beside her. “She passed all of the tests given to her with flying colors, most notably the Math and English portions, which she did absolutely perfect on.”

“Well they did add letters in Math now, so I can imagine they go hand in hand.” Dante commented, still half asleep. “Who’s idea was that anyway?”

“That’s great!” Trish said cheerfully, feeling proud in the younger girl.

Lady shot her a thumbs up, “I knew you could do it, Red!”

Bulleta nearly blushed at all the praise she was receiving from her friends. The principal continued on, this time addressing the girl. “With your scores you can easily skip to your 12th year already. Or you can take it slow and start from where your age group is, in the 10th grade. Choose whichever you like.”

The blonde looked over to her friends, knowing their experience could help with the choice. “What do you guys think?”

“Oh dude you _gotta_ start early!” Lady offered, nearly jumping from her seat. “Who frickin’ wants to start the last year already when you can start as early as you can and make the best out of all the time you got?”

Trish nodded in agreement with her friend, she herself didn’t know much about it but Lady always made it sound like loads of fun. Being a demon forced into the image of a woman she never met, she only wished she was able to experience it as her own person, something even Dante was able to have with his upbringing.

“Guess that settles that.” Bulleta said and turned back to the principal. “I’ll start early.”

“Alright then. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Emi Margaret High, Katrina.”

\---

The four arrived back to the Devil May Cry office with a load of groceries in the trunk. The principal had offered Bulleta a week to get herself ready to start school, but instead the blonde herself made it one day since she was so eager to start it. They had went to the store after to buy whatever Bulleta needed for school and other groceries for the office.

After settling all the items back in the office with one trip, the older employees of the Devil May Cry resumed their usual duties of lazing around. After Wade personally congratulated her for making it in, Bulleta went up to her shared room with Patty and prepared the items she had bought for tomorrow.

The rest of the day went quietly as usual, with Patty coming home from school and happily greeting everyone. After hearing the news, she cooked up one of her best meals for everyone to celebrate Bulleta’s enrollment. Later when night fell, the two teenage girls headed off to bed, leaving the rest downstairs.

While _Stovetop_ by _Curren$y_ played from the jukebox, Dante pulled out a six pack of beer from the fridge and set it down on the pool table where Trish and Lady were playing against him and Wade. He pulled out a bottle from the box and tossed one to Wade and then another two to Lady, who caught them in both hands. Trish was busy lining up her shot and hit the cue stick towards the billiard balls, several cleanly making them into the pockets of the table.

“My turn!” Wade squealed and prepared himself for the next shot. He set down his beer bottle and lined his cue stick on the table.

“Better make this one, Wade.” said Dante after taking a sip from his drink.

“Oh puh-lease, I’m all about being balls deep in holes!” he struck the stick to the billiard ball, which ended up being too hard of a hit and the ball ended up flying past the room and out the window. This earned the mercenary a collective glare from the other three in the room.

Lady lightly bumped Wade with her hip aside and began lining herself up. “That’s what happens when you try to pull out too late.”

“You guys are filthy.” Trish said with a grin and a shake of her head. She put down her beer and went through the doors to retrieve the billiard that had been shot outside.

\---

It was morning after and Bulleta, or rather, Katrina, was waken up by Patty.

“C’mon, you don’t wanna be late to your first day, do you?” the flaxen haired girl asked and pulled the blankets off the other girl, further ushering her out of bed.

“Okay, okay, easy.” Katrina said with a smile as she slowly got up and rubbed her eyes.

While Patty got herself ready in the bathroom, Katrina threw on a black hooded jacket under a white t shirt, crimson jeans, black and white sneakers, and a black beanie. She had already taken a shower the night before so she didn’t need to waste a bit of that time in the morning. The girl grabbed her backpack, leaving her weapons tucked away neatly in the closet. She made her way downstairs and there was already breakfast waiting for her, thanks to Wade.

“Hey Kat!” the mercenary happily greeted from the kitchen, he was in his usual pink bathrobe and unappealing blue crocs. The girl felt a bit odd finally being referred by her real name, but she was sure to get used to it soon.

“Morning.” she greeted casually in return and took her seat on the table. Wade set down a plate with scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage before her. “Thanks, Wade.” Her friend nodded and walked back to the kitchen to cook up some more for Patty and the others when they woke up.

Patty eventually came down the steps, dressed in her usual fancy uniform for her private school that consisted of a dark purple blazer over a black button up with a pastel pink ribbon, lilac colored skirt, black leggings, and dark brown loafers. She was surprised Wade had started breakfast without her, but was more proud that his skills had gotten better though and she enjoyed the food he made for her next to Katrina.

After the two girls finished up their breakfast they left for the bus stop, with Wade waving them goodbye from the doors like a mother. “I’m so proud…” he said and wiped a single tear from his eye. He then turned around and shouted to the others inside, “Kids are gone! Who wants to get fucked up now?!”

Katrina and Patty walked together and reached the bus stop, where a few other teens were waiting quietly there. There was twin brothers that were conversing with one another in Spanish, they were dressed in a similar uniform to Patty’s, which meant they went to the same school as her. An exhausted looking girl who looked and dressed as if she had gotten out of bed seconds ago stayed in her own world with her large headphones. Then on the bench was a quiet brunette girl who tapped her fingers on her gym bag patiently.

“So how do you feel?” Patty asked Katrina, “Excited, nervous, or…”

The blonde took a moment to think and answered, “Guess you can say all of the above.” she admitted with a toothy grin, her usual calm demeanor apparently having hidden all of that away.

“And that’s okay, I felt like that when I first started highschool too.” the flaxen haired girl said reassuringly. The two spotted the bus from down the road and readied themselves to board it.

The bus was filled with students both dressed in casual wear or proper uniform. Katrina had guessed this bus was tasked with taking two different types of students to their respective schools. She followed closely behind Patty until the girl found two free spots for them in the middle. After taking their seats, Patty momentarily introduced Katrina to her friends. Once that had been done and Patty talked with her friends about trivial things, Katrina preoccupied herself with placing in her headphones and closing her eyes.

The bus halted and stopped infront of a school that Katrina found unfamiliar, it was much larger and nicer looking compared to the one she had enrolled into. She looked over at the large sign that read ‘Evelyn Lilac Academy.’ As she guessed, all the uniformed students began to shuffle out of their seats and out of the bus. Patty allowed the others to go before her and she looked over at Katrina, who had a slight disgruntled expression on her face. She gently took the girl’s hands and held them with both of hers, “It’ll be okay. You’ll have lots of fun, I promise!”

Katrina blushed and her lips edged into a small smile at Patty’s positivity and she thanked her quietly. She had gotten used to the company of her friends and suddenly being by herself again saddened her a bit. Though she brushed this off, knowing this happens to everyone.

“Text me if you need anything, okay?” Patty said after getting up from her seat, still looking at the blonde.

“Of course.” Katrina smiled again. “Seeya.”

After the last of the private school students left, the bus proceeded onward to Emi Margaret High. Katrina put her back up against the window and rested her legs on the rest of the seat. Her oceanic eyes looking over at the other students that were either listening to music, talking to one another, or completing some last minute homework. She put her headphones back into her ears as _Back To School_ by _Red Vox_ played from her phone.

They finally arrived to Emi Margaret High and Katrina stood herself up and strided forward. She exited the bus and looked up at the school before her. “Here we go.” she said to herself and let out a small huff. Her hands went inside her jacket’s pockets and she went towards the entrance of the school.

She passed by a few cheerleaders practicing on the grassier parts and two athletes throwing a football back and forth to eachother. There was a girl with multi colored highlights in her black hair that held a controller in her hands, she was actually controlling a small drone that hovered around the school. Katrina looked up at the drone momentarily and admired it for a few seconds before continuing on. Her interest was caught again when she saw skaters and bikers performing tricks on the sidewalk and near a railing. She always had an interest in learning how to ride a skateboard.

Katrina pulled out a folded paper from her back pocket and unfolded it to see her class schedule. She had studied the school’s map a bit last night, which earned her a strange look from Patty who later laughed it off. The devil huntress always was the type to plan ahead and make sure nothing goes wrong. After a bit of walking around she made it to her first class, which was mostly empty aside from a few students. She gave her schedule to the teacher, a young looking man who looked as if he just graduated college, who accepted it and welcomed her to the school and his class. Katrina then received her schedule back and chose the seat that was farthest in the back, practically in the corner of the room.

The bell rung and the other students started entering the class, with the teacher standing by the door and greeting them all personally. None of the other teens seemed to have noticed Katrina in the back and took their seats all around the class. As everyone piled into their individual seats, Katrina looked over to the seat to her left, which was still empty. An odd, faint feeling came across her the more she stared at the seat and it was cast aside when a bickering couple took their seats right infront of her.

The girl sighed and set down a purse on her desk. “I told you to finish your homework, but like usual you were up all night watching movies!” she scolded and pushed up her large, rounded glasses that sat infront of her cyan colored eyes. She had long, light blonde (that almost appeared to be white) hair and fair skin. She was wearing a sky blue sweater, black leggings and similarly colored flats.

The boy had no backpack, only a simple folder that he lazily threw on his desk. “But that _was_ my homework! You remember I got Film Studies, right?” he effortlessly protested with a strained expression. He had light grey eyes, an eyebrow piercing and spiky dark red hair under a backwards beige colored hat with the words ‘Cool Dude’ imprinted on it (the letter O’s being replaced with basketballs.) He was dressed in a white shirt with a blue and red basketball jersey over it, black basketball shorts and worn, red sneakers.

Katrina passively listened in on their conversation, she seemed practically invisible to the couple who continued on bickering. She eventually cleared her throat loud enough for both of them to hear and catch their attention.

“Oh my God, I’m _so_ sorry!” The girl apologized quickly, her eyebrows arching in worry. “I’m so embarrassed you had to listen to us ramble on about all of that!”

“Nah, it’s cool.” Katrina assured casually, her calm expression never changing.

“Imagine if you were me, though!” The boy said with a snicker, “You’d have to deal with this all the- OW!” He was interrupted when his girlfriend struck his shin and he seethed in pain.

The girl cleared her throat and fixed her glasses again, “That’s just Joe, my boyfriend.” she said, shooting him another look, then turned her attention back to Katrina. “I’m Silvia! Nice to meet you!” she introduced herself and extended out her hand.

Katrina shook it and nodded, “Katrina. Likewise.”

“Aw come on, Sil, I can introduce myself you know!” Joe whined once more and he cleared his throat, instead of putting out a hand he lent a fist. “Pleasure to meet you Kat!”

The devil huntress blinked at the instant nickname, especially having just met these two. She bumped his fist anyway and grinned, “You too, man.”

“You’re new here, aren’t ya?” Joe asked the girl.

“Yep.” Katrina responded again, “I just started today and actually just moved here a month ago or so.”

“Ooh, I see.” Sivlia nodded, “Well welcome! Trust me, you’ll have lots of fun here.”

“Thanks and that’s good to know.” Katrina said and paused for a moment. She looked over at the seat next to her and back to the two infront of her, “Oi, this may sound weird but, uh… does anyone sit in that seat?” she asked, gesturing to the empty seat.

Joe raised a brow and leaned a bit to see the seat, Sivlia doing the same as she turned around. “Hmm… I don’t think so?” The redhead answered, “That seats been empty for a while just like yours. Well, until you came along that is.”

“Yeah... but who knows? Maybe another new person will come and take the seat too?” Silvia said, smiling at the other girl. The bell rung and class was starting now, she turned back to her seat and began pulling out a notebook from her bag while her boyfriend lazily opened his folder as well and asked for a pencil to borrow from her.

Katrina felt a bit embarrassed having asked such a strange question, but for some reason she knew she had to ask. She looked over at the seat once more and then to the clock infront of the room, wondering if there really was someone going to take that seat. She let out a sigh and took out a notebook from her backpack and listened to the lesson the teacher was giving out, trying to ignore the strange feeling that passed over her each moment she even thought about the seat.

Class eventually ended and the seat next to her was never taken. Or that's what she thought.

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: joe black and silvia o'connor from the Viewtiful Joe series.
> 
> anyway, some information on the main cast, like age and where they are time line/lore/canon/whatever wise. read if you want.
> 
> dante and wade are both 23 years old. dante went through the events of devil may cry 1, 3, the dmc anime and marvel vs capcom 3's story. while wade (who's timeline is pretty confusing due to writers constantly changing it and the character himself being an unreliable narrator) just went through the events of the 2016 deadpool movie and the events of mvc 3. i decided with his backstory being the movie due to it being much easier to follow. 
> 
> trish is (physically) 25 years old. she went through the events of dmc 1, the dmc anime and mvc 3. while lady is 22 years old, been through the story of dmc 3, the anime and was working behind the scenes during mvc 3, providing support to dante and trish.
> 
> katrina/bulleta and patty are both 16 years old. a younger bulleta went through the events of darkstalkers 3, marvel vs capcom 2's story. she was busy doing work in the makai during mvc 3. a younger patty went through the events of the dmc anime and was with lady during the events of mvc 3.
> 
> chuck is 25 years old and lilith is (physically) 23 years old. chuck's daughter, katey, is 7 years old (he had her when he was 18.) he went through the events of all dead rising games that feature him (minus the non canon off the record and dead rising 3.) lilith has been through darkstalkers 3. both were working behind the scenes during mvc 3's story. (i.e. fighting carnage and other villains)
> 
> c. viper is 33 years old. (had her daughter, lauren when she was 19, lauren is 14.) been through the events of various street fighters games and mvc 3.
> 
> pietro and wanda are 19 years old. been through avengers age of ultron movie, in sokovia during mvc 3.
> 
> i dont know what else to say now. other than people who read the old red scare fic on ff.net might know what that empty seat is about. but like kat, we should stop talking about it. after all it's rude, especially when they're listening.


	17. Hello And Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katrina continues to go about the regular day with newly made friends Joe and Silvia.

The bell for lunch began and students filled up the cafeteria. Joe and Silvia greeted Katrina and invited her over to their table.

“So Katrina!” Silvia began after taking a sip from her water bottle. “How is your first day going so far?”

Katrina sat herself down across from the couple and shifted around in her seat a bit. “It’s going good actually. Better than I expected honestly.” she said and set down a small plastic box filled with food Wade had cooked, mostly made up from the breakfast he made earlier.

“Aw, man, you’re so lucky.” Joe said while chewing his mashed potatoes, earning him a scowl from his girlfriend. “My first day I got shoved in a locker! I didn’t even know people do that anymore! What is this the frickin’ 80’s?!”

A loud clamoring was heard nearby their table and after seeing who was responsible, Silvia let out an exhausted sigh. “Joe, it’s Kaine again...” she said in a worried tone.

Katrina looked over to see a crowd of students forming a circle around what appeared to be two people arguing loudly. She saw Joe and Silvia stand up from their tables to try and push through the crowd and she followed them herself.

“Man, shut the fuck up!” a large, bulky student in a striped button up shouted towards the other brunette student.

“Where’s this fabled fuck and how do I shut it up?” the other student asked, “Are you the fuck? Because I’ll gladly shut you up.”

“Kaine!” Silvia called after pushing right through the crowd, getting his attention. “Come on, just walk away!”

“Oh yeah, good idea.” Kaine said, still focusing his attention to the larger student. “If I start walking fatass here won’t be able to catch me.”

“You son of a bitch, c'mere!” The large teen extended both of his arms out towards Kaine in an attempt to grab him.

“Knock his ass out!” Katrina called out from behind Silvia, who looked back at the blonde girl in disbelief.

Kaine smirked confidently and was glad to do so. He grabbed the other student’s gold chain for leverage and with one swing, he sent the other student falling flat on his back. “That’s gotta hurt, huh?” he said, looking down at his downed opponent. “But I think the planet’s crust is way more hurt since your ass landed on it.” he looked up to the crowd of people that surrounded him. “Good news guys, we’re probably getting an earthquake drill after this.”

This time, Silvia stepped in and proceeded to push Kaine away from the downed student who was bleeding from his mouth and continued cursing and shouting. “Come on, let’s just go sit back down!” she pleaded.

“Fine. Fine.” he said with a shake of his head. “Nice chain by the way.” he told the other student, holding up the broken chain. “Maybe I’ll melt it down for you so you can buy yourself new fucking clothes. Or next time you can just not dress in the dark, shit head.”

A few people in the crowd were laughing, including Katrina and Joe. Silvia pushed Kaine further out and back into their table while the other two followed. The crowd eventually dispersed after a security officer came in and broke it up.

“Kaine Parker, we talked about this.” Silvia said with all the authority of a mother as she sat the gruff looking young man down.

“Uh huh. Yeah.” he responded, pretending not to pay attention. He audibly groaned when Silvia pulled out a clear jar halfway filled with change from her bag. There was a piece of tape on it that read _‘Fight/Curse/Self Deprecation Jar’_. “Oh for fuck's sake, not the jar...”

“Yes the jar. Now put in your share.”

Kaine let out an over exaggerated sigh and he shoved a few quarters into the coin slot of the jar and went back to slouching in his seat.

“Don’t let Silvia bring you down, bro!” Joe said cheerfully as he lightly jabbed his friend’s arm. “You did awesome out there!”

“Don’t encourage him.” his girlfriend warned with venom.

“So, how’d you get in the fight?” Katrina asked, slightly catching Kaine off guard as he was too preoccupied sulking to realize there was a fourth in the table.

“Oh.” he paused for a moment then rubbed his head a bit. “Guy was messing with one of the freshies ‘round here. I stepped in and told him to find the nearest fire hydrant to shove his ass inside. Then, well, you know the rest.”

“Really?” Silvia asked, suddenly feeling a bit guilty about scolding her friend without even knowing his side of the story. “I mean, that doesn’t entirely excuse you but…”

“It was that kid.” Kaine pointed out the student with a small nod. They all looked over to the younger student who looked back at them. He was a bit battered, due to the student Kaine knocked down being responsible for that. A small, shaky smile came across his face and he waved over at Kaine before the school nurse escorted him out of the cafeteria.

“You’re pretty cool for that.” Katrina said with a faint grin.

“Thanks, I guess.” the brunette responded automatically.

“Yeah bro!” Joe chimed in with his usual cheeriness. “You’re a frickin’ hero!”

This certainly struck something and Kaine was taken aback from his friend’s cheer. “Nope. No way, man. Not a hero. Never was, never will be.” he quickly dismissed and shook his head, not noticing Joe’s cheerful expression dimming down slightly. _I’m no hero. Not like Peter._

There was an awkward silence at the table for a moment, other than the sound of Katrina and Joe quietly eating their lunch, Silvia unfortunately had lost her appetite at the sight of blood pouring from the student Kaine punched out. She decided to break the silence herself. “Oh, um, I haven’t properly introduced you two yet, haven’t I?” she said with a slight stammer, catching the two infront of her’s attention. “Kaine, this is Katrina, she’s new here. Katrina, Kaine.”

“What’s up.” Katrina greeted casually towards the rough looking teen, who simply nodded in her direction in return.

Kaine had light brown hair in a crew cut style, with rather rough facial features and a slight stubble despite his age. His build was impressive and he was dressed in a short sleeve black button up that had small red dots decorating it, khaki colored jeans and black sneakers. Katrina also noted he spoke in a very thick New York accent.

“On a scale of fuck to shit, how much do you already hate this place, Katrina?” Kaine asked the blonde girl, who chuckled at his question.

“So far I don’t got an answer for that.” she answered. “Hopefully it won’t change, this is technically my first year in highschool.”

“Hey, Sophomore year was my first year too.” Kaine replied, tapping the back of his hand on her shoulder.

“Wait…” Silvia began, “You both didn’t start as Freshman? How does that work?”

“Long story.” Both of them answered at the same time, which then they glanced at eachother awkwardly before shifting in their seats.

Silvia took off her glasses for a moment and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Kaine, you know one day you’re gonna get in real trouble. The only reason you haven’t is because the staff here are kind of scared of my mom, who happens to be their boss, and they wouldn’t dare approach me or any of my friends.”

“I’d be scared of her too.” Kaine said with a slight snicker. “Anyways, I’ll be fine. You guys worry too much.”

“Someone has to.” she replied in a quiet voice as she placed her glasses back on her face.

Katrina stared off into the distance as another silence came about their table. _I wonder what Dante and them are up to..._

\---

“CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!”

Everybody kept cheering on Lilith and Wade, who were both downing long glasses filled with alcohol that simply floated in front of them, thanks to Wanda who was using her powers to hold them up for the two. Morrison was there holding a stop watch timing the two while they drank.

There was a collective cheer once Wade drank the last drop of alcohol and he let out a savage-like scream once he finished. “ALL MY BRAIN CELLS ARE _FUCKING_ GONE NOW!”

Lilith let out a small fit of coughs after she finished up a few seconds after. She wiped her lips carelessly and burped. “That’s way harder than it looks!” she said with a laugh as Chuck patted her on the shoulder.

It was a small party at the Devil May Cry office that Wade and Dante put together after Katrina and Patty left for school. It had consisted of all the allies they have made so far and it was simply a celebration just for the hell of it. Dante played _Battle Song_ by _Ensiferum_ on the jukebox and he promptly rocked out to the song. The Maximoff twins had made it, with Pietro playing pool so quickly he was able to play by himself, while Wanda utilized her magic to pass around bottles and perform fancy tricks as she made custom drinks.

Chuck set himself down on the table and challenged Scott Lang, out of his Ant-Man suit, to an arm wrestling contest. Whoever lost had to down an entire bottle of beer and the two men struggled with one another while Hope Van Dyne, out of her Wasp suit, Chris Redfield, Lady and Lilith cheered them on. The motocrosser managed to beat the thief and he asked around for another challenger as Scott lightly groaned and prepared himself for the bottle.

“Don’t worry Scotty, I’ll avenge your honor!” Lady said confidently, pulling up her sleeves and shaking the thief's shoulder. She set herself on the other side of Chuck, who smirked and readied himself. In an instance the B.S.A.A. captain was flung down as the devil huntress beat him, which resulted in the cheering of Lilith and Hope. Lady stood up and flexed her arms proudly as Scott looked back and forth at her to Chuck in disbelief.

“Chuck, I’m gonna have to revoke your man card.” Chris teased his friend as he helped him up, who still seemed a bit dazed. “But I probably won’t as long as you finish this.” he said and pushed the beer bottle to his chest.

Trish and C. Viper were having casual talk and drinks with one another by the double doors. After hearing a knock they opened up the door and saw that the Quinjet pilots Queequeg and Ray had made it as well, with everyone greeting them cheerfully upon their arrival. Pietro was quick to run up to them and bring them both a drink before continuing on his pool match.

“YEAH BOY, SHOTGUN THAT SHIT LIKE OLD YELLER!” Wade cheered Dante who was shotgunning a can of beer.

The half demon coughed and finished up the drink, then tossed the empty can at his friend. “That’s _messed_ up, man!” he winced but couldn’t help but laugh.

Wanda suddenly showed up next to the two red clad fools, slightly startling them at her unexpected appearance. “Can I try this ‘shotgun?’” she asked, almost too innocently.

Dante and Wade looked at one another with worried expressions. “Is she even 21, dude?!” the mercenary whispered to his friend.

\---

The final bell rung and Katrina gathered her things before leaving her class. She couldn’t believe the school day was over already. _Time really does go by fast…_ she thought to herself as she walked through the hallways. At the end of the hall were Joe and Silvia who had been waiting for her patiently.

“What’s good, my dudette?” Joe greeted and fist bumped the blonde.

“The end of the day is, my dude." Katrina said with a smirk, then nodded to Silvia who waved in response.

“We’re gonna go meet up with Kaine at the parking lot, wanna come?” the cream haired girl asked politely.

“Lemme see…” the demon huntress pulled out her phone and looked over a few messages Patty had sent her. She mentioned something about stopping by the local orphanage after she got out of school so she wouldn’t be able to join Katrina on the bus, which slightly bummed her out. “Dunno, I gotta catch the bus soon.”

“Don’t worry about that!” Joe assured her with a light shake to her shoulder. “Kaine always gives us rides home, I don’t think he’ll mind giving you on either!”

Katrina bit her bottom lip and tucked her phone away. “Alright then, I guess. Let’s go.”

The three walked towards the parking lot where many students loitered around their cars with their friends. Some teens were smoking cigarettes and there were others on skateboards and bikes that passed through the parking lot and onto the sidewalk. Kaine was waiting next to what appeared to be a vintage rust red colored Chevrolet Camaro, that had a slight beat up appearance which matched its driver. He was leaning back against the side and waved once once he noticed the approaching three.

“There you crazy kids are.” Kaine greeted lazily.

“Man, you’re _so_ lucky you got 6th period open!” Joe said with envy to his friend.

The brunette scoffed and tapped his fingers on his car’s hood. “Even if they didn’t give it to me. I’d end up ditching my 6th anyway. It’s pretty relaxing just sitting in my car in silence."

“I’m so excited to get my car.” Silvia said with anticipation. “ _Someone_ has to start driving in this relationship, atleast.” she side eyed her boyfriend who was busy picking his nose.

“Heh. C’mon, let’s get the fuck outta this dump.” Kaine said and unlocked his car, wasting no time to start it up as well. “Kat, you can take shotgun if you want. I don’t really give a shit.”

Katrina took up his offer quietly and took her seat, while Joe and Silvia squeezed into the back. “Jeez, Kaine, didn’t you say you cleaned your car yesterday?” the cream haired girl asked with a slight disgusted expression on her face as she looked about the mess in the back.

“Yeah. I said that like a month ago.” Kaine answered mildly, resulting in Joe letting out a laugh. “Where have you been?”

Silvia rolled her eyes and tried to push whatever mess of fast food wrappings and beer bottles that were near her feet. She knew she was gonna need another money jar for Kaine’s bad habits.

“So, uh.” the brunette began, slightly losing his train of thought. “You guys wanna get something? Burgers? Tacos?”

“Tacos! I’m down for that!” Joe said happily.

“Can we just get something healthier?” asked Silvia, the smell of fast food inside the car already had her on the edge of losing her appetite.

“Healthier?” Kaine echoed in disbelief. “Who the fuck eats healthy anymore?”

“I do!” Silvia squeaked out, slightly flustered now.

“Silvia and lame people, obviously.” Joe joked and it resulted in him on the receiving end of a jab from his girlfriend.

Kaine began driving out of the parking lot, not really paying much attention to other cars. “Yeah, have fun surviving on grass and shit.” he heard a horn from another car and he leaned out of his window. “UP YOURS, ASSHOLE!”

Silvia nearly shrunk in her seat to save herself the embarrassment of Kaine’s constant road rage. Like usual, Joe was cheering him on which further annoyed her.

“YOUR GIRLFRIEND LOOKS LIKE MY MOM!” the brunette shouted out then sped past the cars. “Assholes can’t drive for shit. It’s like they’re busy talking about food while driving. Anyways, what’d you guys wanna get again?”

There was a collective murmurs of disagreements between the couple and Kaine let out an annoyed huff. “Okay fuck you two, don’t piss yourselves if we get something you don’t want.” he turned to the girl next to him. “Kat, you haven’t said anything. You decide.”

“Burgers.” the devil huntress simply said. It was her favorite after all and she couldn’t get enough of it.

“Hamburgers it is then. The cornerstone of any nutritious lunch.” Kaine stated and turned to a street where he memorized one of the local burger joints in town. He turned on the MP3 player in his car and began playing _The Hole_ by _Trash Talk._

\---

Patty opened the doors of the orphanage home and the children couldn’t let her leave before one more collective hug. She laughed and held as many of them as she could in her arms, “I’ll be back tomorrow, just like always, okay?”

The children all waved the flaxen haired girl off as she adjusted the strap from her gym bag to hang on her shoulder. She waved back once more then continued down the street by herself. As usual she visited the orphanage and spent time with all the children, always giving them all gifts such as new clothes or toys. She had been doing this for as long as she can remember, ever since Dante saved her life that one fateful day. The girl looked upwards, it was a beautiful blue day outside and the sun was out with not a single sign of a gloomy cloud anywhere. Her nose took in the fresh air for a moment to admire the smell.

She pulled out her phone to view the messages Katrina had sent her. The girl mentioned she hadn’t taken the bus but instead went with a couple of friends to get some food. Patty smiled seeing this, she was happy Katrina was able to make friends so quickly even on her first day. She placed her phone away back in her purse and walked along, having stopped for a few moments to pet a cute dog and then another to buy herself a vanilla milkshake. The girl was making her way towards one of the piers on the beach side of town where she would always go to rest her feet in the water and relax.

Patty followed the stone path and noticed there was a girl in a school uniform sitting in her usual spot. Curiosity struck her and she walked on the lowered pier, her shoes creaking on the wooden boards didn’t seem to alert the girl sitting alone at all. Upon closer inspection, the girl was very, almost unnaturally, pale and had short jet black hair peeking from underneath a white cloche hat. Her uniform seemed a bit ripped up at some of the edges and the thigh highs she wore were dirtied up. Was this girl hurt? Or was she homeless?

“Hello?” Patty carefully said, hoping not to startle the other girl. She noticed the girl’s bruised knuckles tightened as she gripped on the edge of the pier. Patty braced herself for the worst.

“H... Hi...” the other girl managed to say, almost in a breathless voice. She slowly turned her head towards Patty.

Patty noted the dark rounded sunglasses that hid the girl’s eyes, but they failed to hide the noticeable bags that peaked from under them. She noticed the other girl had her feet in the water, despite having thigh highs on. She cleared her throat and asked, “Mind if I sit here too?”

The strange girl nodded once, it was almost unnoticeable, and she turned her head back towards the sea. Patty slowly placed her gym bag and purse down, then took off gym shoes. Luckily she had taken off her leggings beforehand for swim practice and she allowed her bare feet into the cool water. The two sat together in silence, with Patty occasionally sipping on the milkshake she had bought. She did notice the other girl’s attention was constantly caught whenever she took a sip herself.

“Did you want some?” Patty asked and held out the milkshake to the other girl, who stared at it quietly for a moment before shakingly taking it in her own hands. There was a small ‘thank you’ that came from the girl and she took a drink for herself, with Patty watching on with a smile.

“I… haven’t had… one of these… in a while…” the girl whispered, her mood being notably better, which made Patty smile wider.

“You can keep it if you like.” the flaxen haired girl offered. “I try not to have too much of those. Gotta fit into my skirt after all.” she said with a light laugh, causing the other girl to have a faint smile as well.

After another moment of silence, Patty turned her attention back to the pale girl. “What is your name?”

The girl seemed a bit startled upon hearing the question and her lips slightly quivered. “F-Fi…” she went quiet again, as if she was in deep thought, then continued. “... Felicia...”

“Nice to meet you Felicia!” Patty chirped happily. “I’m Patty. Patty Lowell.”

“... Patty...?” Felicia echoed strangely and looked over to the girl next to her.

Patty could notice the other girl’s smile had remained, but it was no longer real. Something about her expression seemed very off. “Is everything alright?” she asked, trying to move the conversation. Her blue eyes trailed down to the girl’s roughed up appearance and it worried her greatly. “I mean… you look hurt.” she said and slowly lowered her hand over the other girl’s, but Felicia pulled her hand away and turned her attention away.

“I’m… okay…” Felicia said quietly, her speech seeming to have slowly been more audible and clearer. “Just go on…”

“I’m not going to leave until you tell me what happened.” Patty sternly said, crossing her arms together. “I'm sorry but, I just want to help you... if I can.”

Felicia was silent again, she was twiddling her thumbs and focusing her eyes down. “I... “ she took in a deep breath, using one hand to rub her eyes. “I’m sorry… Patty…”

“It’s okay, please take your time.” the flaxen haired girl assured and looked upwards. “We have all the time in the world.” she hadn’t notice the other girl’s lack of pupils in her empty white eyes, which was hidden again behind the sunglasses.

The pale girl adjusted her sunglasses and nodded. “Thank you…” she felt like she hadn’t spoken in years, so her voice sounded distant and slightly croaky. “Can you… imagine a world… where everything seems the same..” she spoke slowly and made sure the other girl was listening. “Except you… are _dead_ …?”

Patty held a hand over her mouth. “I… I can’t imagine such a horrible thing…”

Felicia seemed to continue on without even noting the other girl’s comment. “More than dead actually… more like… you _never_ … _existed_.” she sounded like she was going to break down into tears any moment now, if she even could still cry. “All your friends are still… there… being happy… but… all you can do… is watch as they go on … without ever knowing you… even existed.” she took in a deep breath. “... just thinking about that… breaks my heart...”

“I-I’m so sorry… I didn’t know.” Patty slowly leaned to the other girl in an attempt to bring her in a hug, but the other girl shifted slightly away. The flaxen haired girl apologized again and leaned back, giving the girl her space.

“Patty… just stop...” the other girl quietly begged.

“What?”

“Just… stop remembering…” Felicia was growing more and more quiet. “Like the … rest of them…”

Patty felt breathless and fearful, she wanted to help this girl but something about her seemed so familiar, but at the same time so very wrong and she couldn’t point it out. “Wait… I…”

“Patty!” Katrina called out to her from out of nowhere. Wait, why was Katrina here?

The flaxen haired girl turned around to see Katrina waving to her. “What…” Patty darted her eyes back to Felicia… only to find the girl was no longer there. She felt her hand was holding her phone and she looked down to see she had texted Katrina to pick her up at the pier. _But… I don’t remember doing that?_

Katrina ran over to Patty and knelt down next to her. “What’s wrong?” the blonde asked her, looking around momentarily. “You look like you just seen a ghost.”

“I…” Patty was speechless, she didn’t even know what to say or think about now. “I-It’s nothing. Let’s go.” she stammered and brought her feet out of the water, noticing her skin has been a bit wrinkled now. Wasn’t she just in the water for a few minutes? She dried her feet off with a towel she got from her gym bag, then placed her shoes on again.

“Come and meet my friends.” Katrina said as she picked up Patty’s purse and gym bag for her. “They’re somethin’ else.”

“Okay.” the flaxen haired girl simply said and began following the demon huntress. Patty looked back for a moment at the pier she had been sitting at, seeing no sign of Felicia anywhere. Even the milkshake was gone. _Am I going crazy…?_

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: kaine parker, from the spider-man series. a clone of the original spider-man, peter parker, that went rogue, then turned somewhat good, and moved away from new york to find a better life away from superhero-ness (he kinda failed.)


	18. Lethal Protector

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new job finally pops up for Dante and Deadpool, but this supposed simple demon hunting gig turns out to go much deeper than they had assumed.

“And… voila!”

Patty smiled ear to ear upon finishing her creation: a home made cookies and cream milkshake with chunks of Oreo cookies in it as well, all inside one of Dante’s most fanciest glasses. She topped it off with whipped cream and closed a lid over it. She had been doing this ever since she had met the girl, Felicia, at the pier. Experimenting with different types of milkshakes to bring to her every time she visited, which she began to do almost immediately after finishing her visits at the orphanage. To ensure it wouldn’t melt too much, she placed it inside a cooler and squeezed it nicely amongst the soda cans and a few beer bottles (which she managed to sneak in at Kaine’s request, much to Silvia’s dismay. But Patty would never refuse a friend's request!)

After closing the cooler she grabbed the handle and rolled it with her as she went out of the Devil May Cry office. She passed by a ladder placed on the stairs that was held in place by Wade, while Dante was up top attempting to fix the neon logo of their shop that had been broken for a month. “Bye guys! We’ll be back soon!” she said to the two with a small wave.

“Lhtrr, khddo.” Dante replied, slightly muffled. He had been using his mouth to hold a screwdriver in place after all.

Wade returned the wave as he watched Patty skip over to the parked car with Katrina and her other friends waiting for her. “Seeya, Krabby Patty!”

The half demon let out a grunt as the ladder slightly wobbled. The screwdriver fell out of his mouth and struck Wade’s forehead, leaving a red mark. “I told you to hold the ladder with both hands, Wade!” he scolded his friend.

“You know I could always just push this ladder down with you on it, dick weed!” retorted Wade in an instance.

“Shut the hell up and gimme the screwdriver again.”

Kaine nodded to Patty and he took the cooler off her hands, then placed it inside his car’s trunk and shut it tight. He went back into the car and started it up again while Patty cheerfully greeted Silvia and Joe. While she did that, Katrina rolled down the window and shouted towards Dante and Wade about looking into the manual of fixing the sign instead of simply hitting things with random tools and hoping for the best.

After the teens had left, Wade and Dante took a break on the steps with a couple of beers to drink. The half demon had ordered a pizza earlier and was impatiently waiting for it, while the mercenary could care less as he much preferred tacos over pizza. A car pulled up infront of the office and the two were too busy lazing about to even acknowledge it.

Morrison stepped towards the stairs and looked at the two that were pretending that he wasn’t there. Around them was a few beer bottles and a toolbox with all the wrong tools taken out to fix the still broken sign. He let out a sigh and took off his hat to scratch the back of his head. “It probably just needs a few new light bulbs, gentlemen.” he pointed out.

“I’m sorry, are you a pizza?” asked Dante from underneath the magazine that hid his face.

“No I am not, last time I checked.” Morrison said with slight grin. “But I did call the pizza place to withhold _all_ of your orders until you pay your debt.” Wade laughed at his friend who made an audible groan upon hearing this.

The half devil slowly got up and tore the magazine off his face. He was stuck in a box again, so he rubbed his face and let out an over dramatic sigh. “What’s the job?”

Morrison produced a folder from his coat and handed it to the demon hunter, who took it and began reading over it with Wade leaning in to look over it as well. “A personal request from the town police chief. A good number of his officers have gone missing every time they are called in to investigate the strange new gang activity that’s been rising lately.”

Wade scoffed upon hearing this. “They want us to play _Where’s Waldo_ except with their little piggies or some crap?”

“Exactly.” Their informant confirmed with a nod. “The only reason they called you specifically is because of the eyewitness reports of ‘monsters’ coming in and out of the buildings officers entered.”

“Probably some psychos in rubber animal masks or whatever, like that last time in Miami.” Dante brushed off Morrison’s explanation, like usual. He turned the page in the folder and was greeted with a few photographs of interest. One had been of a few gangsters taken from a surveillance camera, so it had been a bit blurry, but the notable demonic features on them were very noticeable. Despite looking mostly human, they had jet black eyes and jagged, spiked teeth.

“Demons under disguise. The chief is offering $50,000. Extra if you find any of their officers alive.” Morrison noted and took the folder back. “If you’re gonna go, you better get going now. There’s already a report of cops surrounding a building that has these disguised demons inside holed up in it.”

“I’m in!” Wade agreed and sprung up to his feet. “Only if we can play _Fuck The Police_ while we’re driving there though!” He walked back into the office to get his things ready.

“I guess I’m in too.” sighed Dante and he pulled himself up.

Morrison smiled, “Good to hear. And in return, I’ll fix up your sign.”

“Thanks Morrison.”

The informant peered into the opened office doors and then to Dante. “Where’s the rest of your staff?”

“Oh, uh.” the white haired demon hunter began, “Kat and Patty are hanging out with their friends. Think they’re having a picnic or something. And well, Trish and Lady are on a date.”

Morrison’s eyes went a bit wide at hearing this, “Date?” He didn’t expect this at all.

“Yep.” Dante confirmed mildly. “And not no gal pal just friends crap type of date, like a legit date. Anyways, I’m gonna go get ready.” He walked back into the office to gather his things.

After Dante and Deadpool readied their gear, Morrison allowed them to borrow his car to drive downtown where the police had located the strange gang. The Merc with the Mouth had been so excited to play his song as loud as possible he ended up forgetting his MP3 player back at the office. The whole trip was spent with the merc doing anything possible to entertain himself, whether it be playing with the windows or tapping away at his knees, all which annoyed Dante greatly.

They finally arrived to the scene and spotted a few police cars and officers behind them with their weapons trained on a shabby, brick building with windows that had been boarded up with wooden planks. One of the officers noticed Dante and Deadpool and walked over to them to greet the two.

“I’m Officer Perez.” the officer introduced herself. “You must be the guys from the Devil May Cry, right?”

“No, we’re the guys from fucking Angel Might Laugh.” Deadpool said curtly.

Dante rolled his eyes and dug his hands into his coat’s pockets. “Don’t trip. We’ll take care of your little demon problem.” He nodded over to his friend, “Let’s go, Wade."

The two briskly walked past the slightly bewildered officer and in front of the building. The other officers eased their aim as they all watched the red clad mercenaries make their way closer to the building.

Deadpool stepped up to the door first and promptly knocked on it. “House keeping~!” he sang. One hand was impatiently tapping away at the grip of his M4 carbine that hung on his hip. After what sounded like a few demonic grumbling behind the door, he grew a bit annoyed that no one answered and banged on the door instead. “House _fucking_ keeping, open the goddamn door so I can clean up your shit fuck attitudes!”

Dante's ice blue eyes rolled and he stepped past his friend to kick down the door. One second full view of demons under the disguise of humans training their weapons on him was enough motivation for him to sprint in and fire wildly with Ebony and Ivory. Deadpool simply sighed and walked in slowly with his weapon readied. The police officers outside stared awkwardly at the building that was being filled with the sounds of roars, gunshots, glass breaking and manic laughing. They looked at one another and questioned if these two were even professionals.

A demon gangster sprinted towards Deadpool with a knife readied and he casually fired off a headshot to take it down. “Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, silly.” he turned to see another demon in its true form lunging at him. “And bringing absolutely nothing to a gunfight?” He aimed his carbine at the demon and fired another shot straight in between its eyes. “Well I’m sure your parents taught you better.”

Dante ducked down to avoid a swipe from a demon then fired his handguns into its knees. “Don’t blink!” He said as he thrusted Ivory forward into the demon’s mouth and he fired his weapon until the creature’s head was torn off. Hearing a few screams, the half devil hopped over a pool table and kicked another door down with Ebony and Ivory readied. He slowly put his weapons down upon discovering there was just a group of cowering young women, hugging one another for protection as they looked on in fear at the white haired man. They were dressed in little clothing and looked absolutely beaten, so he placed his weapons away and knelt down. “Hey, don’t worry. We’re here to get you out.”

One of the girls looked past the devil slayer and pointed, “Behind you!”

The half demon turned around as his hand gripped hard on Rebellion, it was a larger demon that was preparing to strike him down. Deadpool suddenly appeared from the side and drop kicked the demon aside, sending it stumbling away. The mercenary picked himself back up and shot a thumbs up to his friend. “I got your back covered like acne! Now get those girls out while I take care of this guy!” He said and quickly brandished his M4 carbine again to fire off shots at the large demon that was slowly getting back up.

Dante gestured the girls to follow him and he used his handguns to take out whatever other demons Deadpool hadn’t taken out. The demon hunter kicked the exit door open again and told all the girls to escape while he covered them from the demons. After confirming that a few police officers came in to escort the girls to a nearby ambulance, Dante returned to fighting off the last of the demons inside.

After the two finished off every single demon in the building, they gave each other a quick high five and walked out proudly. They met up with Officer Perez again who explained that the girls they had rescued were forced into prostitution by the demon gangsters. “Glad we took those bastards out then.” Dante said with his arms crossed.

“One of the girls wanted to talk with you.” Perez informed them then nodded over to a direction. “She’s over there by the first ambulance.

Dante and Deadpool walked past a few officers on their way to the girl that Perez pointed them to towards. Some of the other girls stopped Deadpool and they began thanking him, which he humbly accepted their thanks and pointed out that he had been glad they had gotten their in time. The girl had disheveled brown hair and was covered in a thick blanket to ease her shivering, while one of the paramedics hooked her up on an IV. She looked up to the white haired half demon, her empty eyes slightly lighting up at the sight of him.

“You and your friend are our heroes.” she said softly in a mild Spanish accent. “We cannot thank you enough.”

Dante sat himself down next to the girl and nodded once. “Don’t mention it. What’s your name, anyway?”

“Isabella.” the brunette answered, trying to smile her best. “You?”

“Name’s Dante.” He responded, his tone was much more mild compared to his usual overconfident nature. “My friend over there is Wade. I hear you wanted to talk with me?”

“ _S-Si_.” Isabella said while tucking herself further in the blanket. “It is _mi hermana,_ Itzayana. Those creatures... they took her to the abandoned warehouse near here.” her hand came out of from underneath the blanket and she laid it softly on the half devil’s hand. “Please… can you save my twin?”

Dante had a soft smile on his face and he lightly squeezed the girl’s hand. Twins always resonated with him, seeing as he is one half of one. “You bet I can.”

“Thank you.” Isabella was nearly in tears now but she held it in. One of the paramedics then escorted her into the ambulance while she waved towards Dante.

“Mr. Dante?” Officer Perez called out, walking up to the half demon. “All the girls have told us some much needed information: every location where this mysterious gang are holed up. We’re sending in units to crack down on them right now.”

“Good. Let me and my friend take on the warehouse though.”

“Understood.”

Dante rubbed his chin and continued on, “And word of advice, pal? Tell your guys to stick together. Even these lesser demons can kill humans easily, but in groups they could take out every single one of those demon scum that come at them.”

“Got it.” Perez confirmed and began radioing over that information to the mobilizing units.

Dante met up with Deadpool once more and prepared to leave, with the girls bidding them good luck as well as requesting they rescue any other people they can. The two were much more motivated to take out the demon threat after seeing what they had been doing to these poor young women. They entered the car, the half devil gripping the steering wheel tight enough that it could have been crushed under his palm. “Let’s give ‘em hell.”

\---

Their car skidded to a stop and the two wasted no time to get out and make a rush towards the warehouse. Dante spun Rebellion in his hands and he stabbed it right through the large garage door, slicing around it and creating a makeshift opening for the two of them. Deadpool ran in first with his carbine raised and Dante came in after with Ebony and Ivory ready… only to find the entire building was littered in the burning corpses of the demons, but not a single sign of any other human they may have captured. Entire shelves, shipping containers and boxes were turned over, ripped apart, or riddled with bullet holes.

“Keep close.” Dante told his friend, meeting with his eyes for a moment. “Whatever did this must be a tough one.” He said as he looked over the ripped apart corpses of the demons.

“Oh boy, this always means there’s gonna be a new character introduction soon.” Deadpool said with false cheeriness and he followed right behind the half demon.

Their steps were careful and inaudible due to the corpses of demons that slowly faded away in colored flames. Dante continued moving on, not noticing Deadpool had stopped in his tracks after noticing something in the corner of his eye.

It was a girl hiding behind one of the crates and once Deadpool took notice to her, she put up her index finger on her lips, signalling him to stay quiet. The mercenary looked over to her then back to Dante, who was a few paces away. He was going to call for him until a strange, deep voice spoke up from behind him.

“ _Hold still_.”

Before he could even fire his weapon, Deadpool’s trigger finger was kept in place by a small white tendril and soon his yelps of surprise were quickly silenced when several more large tendrils made a grab for him and pulled him quietly away.

\---

There were a couple demon gangsters still twitching on the ground and Dante promptly finished them off by driving Rebellion right through their chests. His ice cold eyes further scanned the area until he spotted a girl laying on a couch with her back facing him. He placed his demonic broadsword behind him and jogged towards her. He knelt down and laid a soft hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Hey, you alright?” He asked, only meeting silence after that. Not even the sound of breathing.

The demon hunter carefully shifted the girl’s body to face him and what he saw caused him to bow his head down in shame. The girl was already dead by a drug overdose. Her brown skin was more pale, her eyes were opened but completely empty and glossy and her makeup had been running. There was a needle carelessly lodged into her arm and his hands balled up into a tight fist upon further realizing this girl had great resemblance to Isabella. This had to be her twin sister, Itzayana, and he failed Isabella, who requested that he had saved her. “Son of a bitch!” He struck the ground below him and cursed the demons that had did this to her through his gritted teeth.

A large shadow loomed over the devil hunter and his face grew into one of anger. His hand swung Rebellion out as he turned right round, holding it up against the hulking figure. A white axe was also held up against his neck, the weapon having a strange shiny, tar-like texture to it. “ _Don’t even think about it._ ” The figure warned in a booming voice.

It was a monstrous humanoid covered in the same white tar texture from head to toe, that had jagged spikes popping from random spots of its body. A giant insignia of a black spider was at the center of its chest, with the spider’s legs spread all across its shoulders and upper thighs. The face had tiny glowing yellow eyes that was surrounded by black jagged designs that resembled eye pieces that stretched over to its large mouth that were lined with yellow barbed teeth and a long tongue that dripped a strange green liquid. The axe it held against Dante actually was its left arm, having transformed it into said weapon.

“Easy tiny.” The white haired half demon warned back. “You may not be a demon but that doesn’t mean I won’t hesitate to take you out.”

“ _Anti-Venom._ ”

A silver brow raised on Dante’s face, “What?”

“ _The name’s Anti-Venom._ ” The creature corrected. “ _And I’m here to rid the cancer that consumes the streets._ ” The yellow slits squinted at the demon hunter. “ _I hope you are also a fighter for the same cause._ ”

“I kill demons and get paid. Simple as that.” Dante stated, then looked back at Isabella’s twin on the couch. “... Unless something like this happens. Then it gets more personal.”

Anti-Venom noticed what the white haired man was looking at and he slowly shifted his axe back into a regular hand. He pushed the broadsword held up against his throat away and walked towards the girl, examining her. “ _No… I was too late…_ ” He grieved quietly after noting her cause of death. He gently picked up the girl in his arms and faced the devil hunter who was watching him quietly.

Dante overheard what sounded like sniffles from behind him and he saw a few more girls that were already in tears at the sight. They ran past him towards Anti-Venom, who knelt down with Isabella’s twin still in his arms. The girls all grieved over the loss of their friend and Anti-Venom simply stayed quiet in respect.

“That’s Eddie Brock.” The familiar voice of Deadpool spoke up as he suddenly appeared right next to his friend. “He used to go by Venom, but a change of heart and a new symbiote later, he became Anti-Venom, a true force of good.”

“So he’s the one who took out the demons here?” Dante inquired, his ice blue eyes narrowing over to the demons that were simply ashes now.

“Yep!” Deadpool’s hands ran over his mask and he took it off. “And much more.” He said, smiling brightly to his friend who was shocked at what he was faced with. Deadpool’s usual scarred appearance was long gone now, his face was healthy and youthful and he had short messy brunette hair.

“Whoa… Wade, you’re…” The half demon nearly froze up, but he couldn’t resist smiling at his friend’s appearance.

“Hot? Hotter than you?” He finished smugly and he tossed his mask to Dante. “Yeah, we already knew that. Anti-Venom practically cured my cancer! And, uh, well he also cured some of my regenerative abilities... but eh, who cares? I'm Ryan Reynolds again!”

Dante scoffed and caught the mask, looking down at it briefly before looking back at Wade.

“Not just me though, Anti-Venom was able to clear out all of the drugs and illnesses that were in those girls’ systems.” Wade further pointed out and he nodded towards the group. His smile faltered once he saw the one they had failed to save.

The police were quick to arrive to the warehouse and the three heroes escorted the girls out towards the ambulances and officers. Isabella’s twin was hidden over a sheet and taken inside an ambulance while Dante, Deadpool and Anti-Venom looked on in guilt. Officer Perez approached the three and gave them much needed assurance. “You all did everything you could.”

Though the half demon nearly blocked out her words as he watched Isabella herself slowly approach her twin sister’s body. She lifted up the sheet once and burst into tears at what she saw. Her hands ran over her twin’s body and she cried into her chest. Guilt overtook Dante and he couldn’t watch anymore as he turned around and walked back into the warehouse.

“Hey Dante! Wait up!” Deadpool called for his friend, following him with Anti-Venom doing the same.

The half demon stopped in his tracks and he sniffed at the air once. His eyes looked over to see a man in a suit, staring back at him from the end of the building. The man had a strange item in his hands and once he fiddled with it, demons suddenly appeared infront of him.

“ _Who the devil is that?_ ” Anti-Venom questioned as he readied himself into a battle stance right next to Dante. “ _Is he the one responsible for the creatures here?_ ”

“You bet.” Dante said as his eyes narrowed, his glare was shooting past the demons and straight into the suited man’s eyes. “I’m gonna choke you out with your own tie, you son of a bitch.” He gripped his hands on Rebellion and sprinted forward with full intent of avenging poor Itzayana.

The man ordered the demons to charge at Dante and he quickly slashed right through them with his broadsword. He cursed and summoned much more demons, then scrambled to a sprint to a different direction.

The devil hunter jumped over the demons and continued his chase for the man, while Anti-Venom and Deadpool rushed them.

“ _Satan’s minions shall be cleansed!_ ” Anti-Venom shouted as he produced multiple tendrils from his body that grabbed multiple demons. He let out a roar as he slammed each demon into the walls and ground repeatedly until they ended up as a bloody pulp.

Deadpool emptied his carbine into a demon’s chest and he sent a strong stomp into its jaw, tearing it clean off. “Taste my size 10’s, you squirming fuck nugget!” He released his carbine and pulled out his twin handguns, firing off precise headshots that tore through multiple heads and struck other demons.

“ _Wilson!_ ” called the symbiote after he ripped a demon in two with his bare hands. Another tendril held up a demon and he threw it towards the mercenary. “ _Heads up!_ ”

The Merc with the Mouth jumped forward and stuck a grenade in the demon’s mouth as it was airborne. “Pineapple surprise!” He laughed as he landed in a roll, then turned back to see the demon crash into several of its own, catching them all in a large explosion.

\---

Dante continued his pursuit of the gang leader who had made it out into the streets. He was carelessly pushing people out of the way as he tried escaping the half devil that was right on his tail. The gang leader tried to make a turn into an intersection but a bullet whizzed past his head and into a pole, causing him to fall flat on his backside. He looked over to see the demon hunter holding a smoking handgun and he scrambled to his feet again to run the other direction into an alley.

“Shit! Shit!” The man cursed to himself as he placed the summoning device inside his suit jacket and attempted to climb the chain link fence that was the only thing in his way.

Dante casually grabbed the man by his belt loop and threw him down onto the ground. While he attempted to brandish a knife from his pocket, the half demon grabbed his wrist and crushed it under his hand, causing the knife to clatter on the floor. “Not gonna happen.” He said simply as the man let out a scream of pain. He pushed him down again with his boot and the other man foolishly tried kicking the demon hunter. Dante grabbed the man’s foot with one hand and snapped his ankle, causing him cry out in agony on the dirty floor. “You’re a human but you are just as bad as those demon scum you make do your dirty work.”

“You broke my fucking wrist, you piece of shit!” The gang leader cried out, holding his damaged wrist with his undamaged hand.

“Glad you noticed.” Dante said sarcastically and sent a fist to the to the man’s nose, causing him to hit the back of his head against the ground. “Keep whining and I’ll break your other one too, punk.”

The half devil removed the man’s suit jacket and tied it around his two arms. As he did this the summoning device fell from it and he crouched down to pick it up. The gang leader saw his precious weapon in the demon hunter’s hands and he began to lose his cool. “Y-You don’t know what kind of power is in there!”

“Course I do. It’s a basic lesser demon summoner. These guys are practically brain dead minions that will follow anyone who holds this.” Dante said matter-of-factly as he looked at the item from front to back. “Guess they relate to their boss well, huh?”

“Give that back you ugly ass mother fucker!”

Dante smirked evilly, the shadows of the buildings between them hid his eyes and gave him a menacing appearance. “Itzayana would want her life back too, right? But you’re the one who took it from her.” He stepped up towards the gang leader as he spoke in a menacing tone. “So why would I give this back to you, when I could always sick a few demons on you so they can rip you apart. You don’t even deserve death by my hand. Hope you got a big enough apology ready for her because--”

A glowing white and blue chain blade flew past the half demon’s hand and sliced at his hand, causing him to drop the summoning device. This time he actually _felt_ the pain and he grabbed his hand, staring at the fresh wound that was practically was burning. There was only one type of weapon that could do this to demons… “Angel Arms.” He said to himself as he watched the chain blade that was lodged into the fence get pulled back. He simply stepped out of the way as the blade whizzed past his neck and he turned around to face whoever held the Angel Arms.

There stood a person dressed in a dark purple leather jacket over a black tank top and hoodie, light grey fingerless gloves, holey grey jeans and black Doc Marten boots. Several chains hung from their jeans and the hood hid their face. They grabbed the chain blade and by its handle and connected the end of it another weapon in their other hand, a chain sickle.

Dante watched as both weapons’ chains merged them into one, resembling a scythe on one end and a long blade on the other. He watched as the figure remove their hood, revealing a brown skinned young woman with a grown out faux hawk with the sides shaved and top dyed a light blue. Several piercings were on her face, most notably her nose, eyebrow and lips. Her sharp chocolate colored eyes glared hard into the half devil… until it suddenly warmed up as she started nervously giggling.

“A-Apologies, I, uh…” She trailed off as she rubbed the back of her head. “I just never did this before, so please bare with me!” Dante noticed she spoke in a slight French accent.

The young woman cleared her throat and changed her stance, standing much taller with her back straightened and her face full of confidence. “Stop right where you are and step away from that innocent man, criminal!” She said with a challenging smile, though her tone sounded as if she had rehearsed that line for some time. "For I, Ariel Fidal, will stop you!"

Dante had completely forgotten about the burning pain that his hand was experiencing at the moment and he simply sighed. “I can’t believe this is happening…”

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: eddie brock, the lethal protector known as anti-venom from the spider-man series. as well as the angel ariel fidal (AH-ree-EL FEE-dal) ... an original character.


	19. Angels And Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante clashes with Ariel Fidal, a strange but kind young angel who fights with angelic weapons. She doesn't seem to be taking the fight rather seriously though.

“Listen kid…” Dante started off slowly, his expression further showing confusion as the young woman put down her weapons and looked as if she was now listening intently to what he has to say. “The only _criminal_ is this mouth breather here.” He explained and nodded towards the gang leader still tied up on the floor.

Ariel had a curious expression as she looked at the gang leader seated down. “Are you really a criminal?” She asked him eagerly.

A bead of sweat passed by the man’s neck and he instantly recognized the girl’s naivety. He had a crooked smile come across his face and he feigned innocence. “No I’m no criminal, I _swear_! This crazy man just randomly attacked me while I was on my way to the animal shelter to adopt every single one of those cute little guys!”

“Oh my!” Ariel gasped, sounding legitimately shocked. “Well do not worry, _mon amie_! I will stop this fiend and get you out of this predicament!” She returned into a fighting pose and smiled at the half demon. “Ready?”

Dante immediately face palmed upon hearing the exchange. “Come on, kid! Can’t you see his story sounds like bull!?” His words fell upon deaf ears as the young woman charged at him again and swiped her scythe towards him. He simply stepped back, noticing that she had purposely attacked him farther than usual so he didn’t have to experience the full brunt of her angelic weapon. _Or is she just inexperienced…?_ He thought to himself and dodged another swing from her. _Either way, I’m not letting that blade touch me again. Angel weapons hurt like a mother--_

The blade end transformed back into a chain weapon and it flew right towards Dante, interrupting his train of thought. He bent backwards and caught the blade by its grip and held onto it tight.

“ _Impressionnant_!” Ariel complimented once her opponent had caught her weapon. “You are much faster than I thought!” She said with her smile never faltering as pulled hard on her chain.

Dante was caught slightly off guard as he nearly lost his footing. Her strength was unexpected and he held on tight after gathering himself again. “It’s all in the hands, lady.” He said with a smug grin and he heaved hard on the chain, pulling the woman towards him.

She flipped in the air and struck a kick towards the half demon, who blocked it with his forearm. She used his arm as a stepping stool and she launched herself upwards. “Get ready for this!” She called out as she brandished what appeared to be a beautifully designed blue and white lever action shotgun from her jacket. She fired a few shots at the half devil who reflected the pellets with Rebellion.

“Easy kid, you could hurt someone with that.” He said as he swiped away the last of the shells that was shot at him. He watched her land gracefully on her two feet with her bright smile slightly shifting upon hearing his comment.

“Hurt someone...?” Ariel repeated with her brows arched worriedly. “I would not want to do that at all… but if you say so, I’ll put it away.” She placed her shotgun back inside her jacket, much to Dante’s surprise. She returned to using her scythe and spun it above her head before she ran towards the half demon.

“And that’s not any better either!” He scolded with gritted teeth as he parried her swing with Rebellion. He spun around to deliver a roundhouse kick to her chest, but she stopped it with the base of her weapon. He was pushed back and he landed in a roll once again, pulling out Ebony and Ivory. “Whoops.” He said and returned his dual handguns away, it had been far too much of a habit to randomly pull out his guns during battle. But he knew he couldn’t bring himself to fire at this girl. _Why the hell is she so nice anyway?_

“Those were very nice looking guns!” Ariel complimented once more. “They rather remind me of a hero from these stories my parents read to me as a child… was he called Sparta?” She suddenly shifted as if she was in deep thought. “ _Non_ , _non_ … Spordo? Spiddle?”

Dante eased himself and he cleared his throat to catch the young woman’s attention. “Don’t overthink it, kiddo.”

“Oh, sorry!” She quickly apologized. “I get very distracted during battle too often. I am trying to fix that though!” She paused a beat and continued. “Oh and if you can, how would you rate our battle?”

“Rate your battle…?” The half demon echoed in a completely confused tone. “Kid, uh, not sure if you heard but battles aren’t really supposed to be full of compliments.”

Ariel rubbed her chin and her eyes narrowed upon hearing this. “Ah, of course! That’s where I’ve been going wrong…” She cleared her throat and straightened her back again, pointing one finger at the half demon. “Prepare to have our goose cooked!” She said proudly at first, but realized it was a mistake. “ _Non_ … I do not think that is correct either…”

“Uh, kid...” Dante said, trying to catch her attention. He had long since put his weapons away and he was now simply standing around impatiently.

“ _Oui_?” She tilted her head as she looked up at him. Her eyes shifted to see his bleeding hand and she nearly let out a yelp. “Oh no, you’ve been injured!” She ran over to him and placed her weapon behind her, where it faded away from view.

Dante looked around awkwardly as Ariel held up his injured hand and examined the wound. “We should take a break, huh?” She asked with a smile as she held a glowing blue hand over his wound and it slowly healed.

“Yeah, maybe we should.” The half devil slowly agreed as he watched her heal his hand. He knew angel powers when he saw them and this woman definitely was an angel. Literally. “Hey, kid, you’re an angel aren’t you?” He asked her and she looked a bit confused by his question.

“ _Ange_?” She echoed with her lip slightly pouted. “No, no, _monsieur_ , I’m a demon!” She took notice to his bewildered expression and she added, “Ah, but do not be alarmed, I mean you no true harm!”

Just as soon as Dante was going to correct her, he felt the presence of an actual demon behind him. He looked around to see the gang leader had managed to get out of his bonds and use the summoning device to bring in more lesser demons. The half demon grabbed Ariel by her shoulders and jumped out of the way.

“Dammit, so close!” The gang leader cursed as the demons he summoned surrounded the two. “But who gives a shit, I’ll be laughing when my boys here tear both of you into shreds!”

“But... “ Ariel started, she looked betrayed as she gazed at the man. “I thought you were an innocent?”

“If you believe everything you hear brat, you’ll end up dead!” The gang leader cackled. “Just like now! Kill ‘em both!”

“Get behind me, kid!” Dante warned Ariel as he pushed her further behind him protectively. He brandished Ebony and Ivory and fired his handguns in multiple directions that each demon charged at him from.

Ariel watched in awe as the white haired man jump around from spot to spot, firing his twin pistols rapidly at any demon that had were unlucky enough to end up in his iron sights. The half demon quickly finished off the last of the demons and he quickly raised one gun to fire the summoning item in the man’s hand, destroying it completely.

The gang leader let out a cry of shock as his only weapon was shattered into a million pieces that slowly faded away from existence. He dropped down to his knees and scrambled around with his hands trying to pull the pieces back together. He heard the click of a weapon and the barrel of one pressed up against his head. “I-I…”

“Wait!” Ariel said and held onto Dante’s arm. “You shouldn’t kill him!”

“Wasn’t planning to.” The half demon muttered, his sharp eyes still stuck on the cowering man on his knees. “He’s not worth it.” He pulled his handgun away and returned it back into its holster.

Ariel let out a sigh of relief and then a slight yelp when the white haired man drove a sudden front kick to the man’s face, knocking him out cold. “Wade, I’m down the street from the warehouse.” Dante said into his phone as he started walking out of the alleyway. “Bring those cops too so they can take in the gang leader.”

“Where are you going?” asked Ariel curiously. She looked back at the knocked out man then began following Dante and walked beside him.

“Meeting up with my friend. Get paid. Go home.” Dante explained casually and they walked back into the normal streets with a few passing civilians that didn’t even notice the out cold man in the alley. Ariel stepped in front of Dante and smiled as she stopped him in his place. “Ugh, don’t you have anything else better to do, kid?”

The angel’s hands shook and she suddenly shot forward, gripping the lapels of Dante’s coat. “Please, take me under your wing, _monsieur_!” She begged with her lips pouted. There were several people glancing at the two with a concerned expression, much to the half demon’s dismay.

“W-What?” Dante asked, not at all expecting this.

“I saw how you battle those rogues!” Ariel said, releasing his lapels and she made two finger pistols. “Bang! Keeping it stylish! Who would have thought that would be such a cool thing to say while in battle?”

“Uhh…” The half demon trailed off. He still didn’t know what to say to this overly excited girl. _Jeez, is that how I sound to other people?_

“Your skill is the best I have ever seen in my life!” The angel said, her eyes were full of wonder. “Will you teach me your trade? I want to be an amazing hero just like you!”

“‘Hero?’” Dante repeated, his expression was now more mellow. “I’m no hero, kid…”

“Of course you are! You protected me, did you not? If you do not believe you’re a hero, then I will show you that you really are!” She turned on her heel and began walking forward. “Let’s find some more people to save!”

“Hey, wait up...”

She stopped in her tracks and turned around again to fully face the half demon. Her head tilted and she awaited what he had to say.

 _Can’t believe I’m doing this…_ “I... “ He sighed heavily, “I’ll train you... I guess.”

Ariel’s face brightened up and she smiled ear to ear as she rushed the half demon, picking him up in a gripping hug that practically squeeze the breath from his lungs. “ _Merci_ , _merci_ , _merci_! I promise you will not regret this, _monsieur_!”

She released the demon hunter from her grip and he caught his breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t mention it, kid…”

Ariel pulled out a phone from her pocket and she gasped lightly. “Oh my, I am going to be late to my class!” She looked up at the demon hunter, “Where should I meet you for my training, mister…”

“Dante.” He finished for her. “Just Dante.” He pulled out a black card with his shop’s logo, number, and address and handed it to her. “And here, you can come by my shop for your, uh, training.”

“Wow!” She giggled and accepted the card gratefully, tucking it in her jacket’s breast pocket. “I have to get going now, but I will see you soon!” She began running off to another direction and waved back at the demon hunter. “Thank you, Mr. Dante!”

The white haired half devil slowly waved back and he had a slightly nervous expression. As soon as she was out of sight he slapped his palm onto his face. “I can’t believe I just did that...”

“Did what?” Deadpool asked behind the half demon who nearly jumped from his sudden appearance.

“Jeez, Wade…” Dante said with a slightly annoyed expression. “You need to ease on that ninja crap.”

“Oh, you don’t know my _real_ ninja craps.” The mercenary chuckled, “Spidey didn’t know what hit him when he found my shit all over his--”

“Stop.” The half demon cut him off and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. One of his eyes opened and he noticed Anti-Venom was also with them. “Uh… what’s up, man?”

“ _Nothing._ ” The symbiote simply replied, looking around casually. “ _You guys wanna go to a bar or something._ ”

Two police officers emerged from the alleyway with the gang leader in handcuffs, though he was still knocked out cold. They threw him into the back of a car and high fived one another before preparing to drive off. Dante knew a drink would help a lot now after everything that happened today. “I’m down.”

Later, in one of the closest bars to their location, Dante, Deadpool and Anti-Venom sat next to one another on stools at the bar. The bartender had been completely unphased by the white haired man with a intimidating looking sword behind him, the other costumed man armed to the teeth with weapons, and the hulking white monster that calmly requested a milk.

\---

Dante and Deadpool eventually drove their way back to the Devil May Cry, with Anti-Venom still tagging along strangely. The symbiote was rather cramped in the back of the car while he casually sipping on the straw of his milk carton. They pulled into a stop and saw their neon sign was shining brightly, looking completely brand new, which means Morrison had managed to fix it. The three stepped inside the office and the others were finally home, not really being surprised at the giant that followed the two red clad fools.

“Thanks for fixing the sign, Morrison.” Dante said as he tossed the car keys back to his informant, who caught it.

“Sure thing.” He stood up from his seat and grabbed his hat and coat. “I’ll get the pay forwarded to you both tonight.” He bid his farewell to everyone in the shop and left.

Anti-Venom sat on the couch, shifting all of its weight on his side, while Lady looked on with an annoyed expression.

“Looks like you two had fun.” Trish said towards the two, a wine glass was in her hand. “Even made a new friend.”

“ _That’s me._ ” Anti-Venom spoke up and waved once.

“Yep!” Deadpool said and he removed his mask to reveal his unscarred face once more, which strangely enough that surprised everyone in the shop instead of Anti-Venom’s appearance. Trish dropped her wine glass, Lady felt like she was experiencing a heart attack, Patty nearly let out a scream and Katrina shouted out for _Gott_ in German.

There were instantly dozens of questions launched at the mercenary only for Anti-Venom to speak up again. “ _That was also me_.” And he and Wade explained what had happened in the quickest way possible to the girls.

“Well that’s... convenient.” said Trish as she was cleaning the mess she had made.

“Now that’s dealt with,” Dante stretched his arm and he prepared himself to drop onto the couch for his usual nap. “I’m heading over to dream la--” There was a knock at the office doors that made him grimace.

“Hello?” A familiar voice (to Dante) spoke as the doors squeaked open. “ _Monsieur_ Dante?”

All eyes were immediately on Dante, with Lady specifically pointing at the half demon with her mouth agape. Everyone looked on as a young woman dressed in punk rock attire stepped in and waved at all of them politely. “I did not expect there to be so many people here!” She said with a slightly nervous smile.

“Oh my God. It’s Chloe from Life is Strange.” Wade said in a monotone voice.

“Hm?” Ariel tilted her head at the mercenary’s comment. “Oh no, my name is Ariel! I’m here looking for Mister Dante?” She explained and looked around the shop, just missing the half demon hop over behind the couch. Her smile turned into a pouted expression, “Did I just miss him?”

“Nah, he’s down here.” Trish pointed out as she pulled the demon hunter up from the ground.

Dante shot a glare at the demoness for a moment before fixing his coat and nodding towards the angel. “What’s up, kid.” He greeted as he stepped up towards her.

She bounced once and her scythe weapon appeared in her two hands, slightly startling everyone in the office. “I’m ready for my training!” She chirped, unaware of the scare she gave everyone.

Trish’s eyes narrowed when she noticed the blue and white aura of the girl’s weapon. _An angel…?_

The half demon placed his hands on Ariel’s weapon and slowly lowered it for her. “Kid, if you’re gonna pull out a weapon, can you do it outside?”

“Oh…” She frowned a bit and her weapon disappeared from her hands. “Apologies. I did not mean to scare anyone.”

All of his friends’ eyes were on Dante, they all eagerly awaited his next move as if they were kids watching their friend talk to their crush. “It’s cool.” He assured, catching Wade and Lady’s eyes on him, but brushed it off. “How about we go outside to train, it’s less cramped.”

Ariel nodded, “Okay!” And with that she stepped out of the office again, leaving only a silence in her wake. Until another burst of questions were thrown at Dante from all angles.

“Guys, shut up.” The half demon said in a slightly raised voice, which managed to silence everyone. He rubbed his temples and sat down on the couch momentarily to collect himself.

Trish sat next to the demon hunter with a new wine glass in hand. She had a calculating look on her face and she gazed over at Dante. “An angel, huh?”

“Yep.”

Lady leaned over with her hands pressing down on the couch, “How’d a _loser_ like you meet an angel?! I never met an angel before, this is frickin’ cool!”

“Yeah, me neither.” agreed Katrina from behind the couch, with Patty next to her. “Seems like demons are usually the only ones that show themselves out in the open, why is that?”

“Hell if I know…” Dante shrugged his shoulders. “But the kid thinks she's a demon, for some reason.”

“Well she definitely got the look down!” Deadpool chimed in, noting the girl’s choice of dress.

Anti-Venom suddenly appeared behind all of them with a finger on his chin. “ _A holy spirit is always good luck, is it not?_ ” He asked, not noticing the others surprised expressions. “ _But if the kid really thinks she is a demon, she soon might act like one._ ”

The white haired devil hunter scoffed at that, “No way. She’s _too_ nice.” He said as he stood up from his seat. “And that’s the thing… she wants to learn how to fight, but I don’t think she can even bring herself to kill something.”

Trish followed Dante as he made his way to the door and stopped him for a moment before he went through them. “Dante.” She said in a firm tone.

“I know that voice. It’s the _‘I’m gonna lecture you’_ voice.”

The demoness frowned and her brows narrowed. “I’m serious. You know what Angel Arms can do to us. What if she is just _acting_ like she’s innocent and nice? To catch us off guard? You have your back turned and next thing you know she slices your head off.”

“Trish, Trish...” He began and placed a hand on her shoulder. She was expecting him to come up with a reasonable argument, but as usual he was simple and straight to the point. “Chill. I got this.”

Trish exhaled through her nose and her arms crossed together. “We’ll all come out with you. I’m not leaving you alone with her.”

“Fine, mom.” Dante said with a roll of his eyes and opened the double doors, meeting with Ariel who was still patiently waiting.

“ _Bonjour_ , Mister Dante.” The angel greeted with a smile.

“No misters.” He corrected quickly. “Just Dante.”

“Hmm, how about Master Dante?”

The half demon coughed a bit and waved a hand of dismissal. “Definitely not that either.”

“Try Dante _Senpai_ ~!” Deadpool suggested and his friend was quick to strike him in the gut with his elbow.

Ariel tilted her head at the suggestion. “ _Sen_ … _pai_?”

“Don’t listen to him, kid.” Dante said as he sat down on the steps. The others were already out as well and seated with him. “Alright, let’s, uh… see what you can do, I guess.”

The angel felt a bit nervous with having an audience and she rubbed her hands together anxiously. “Well, I cannot show what I can do without a sparring partner, no?”

“That’s your cue, genius.” Katrina said as she tapped Dante’s back.

“Ugh, but I just sat down.” The half demon muttered with a sigh and he brought himself back up again. “Fine, I’ll help you.”

“ _Super_!” Ariel cheered and brandished her scythe weapon again. She spun it in her hands and readied herself again. “Are you ready?” She asked eagerly.

Dante pulled out Rebellion and stretched his neck and shoulders out lazily. “Guess so.”

“WAIT!” Deadpool interrupted the two from the steps. “Punk rock girl! You gotta have a kick ass catchphrase or opening line!” Trish and Katrina gazed over at the mercenary with annoyed looks.

“You are right!” Ariel agreed and she dug inside her jacket, then produced a notepad. “ _Bien_ , let’s see here…” She said as she squinted at the pages she flipped through.

“Does she really have a notebook for one liners.” deadpanned the blonde demoness.

Lady nodded with her eyes narrowed. “Yes. Yes she does… I should do the same.”

“Doesn’t everyone?!” Deadpool questioned and he dug inside one of his pouches, then pulled out his own tiny notepad. “See, I got one to--” Trish swiped it from his hands and threw it aside. “... my notepad.”

Anti-Venom stopped sipping on his milk carton for a moment and called, “ _Say you will bring the wrath of God up his doorstep._ " He leaned in next to the others, " _I always say that before I take out a few criminals._ "

“Silly monster!” Ariel giggled with her mouth covering her smile. “I am no servant of God, can’t you tell a demon when you see one?”

“Kid, just forget the line and just try to fight.” Dante said impatiently.

“Oh, um, very well.” Ariel responded and tucked her notepad away, returning to holding her weapon properly.

The half demon readied Rebellion behind him, “Alright, here I come!” He dashed towards the young woman and swung his blade.

The angel was quick to separate her scythe in two, then used the chains that connected her sickle and knife to catch Rebellion. She tied the chains around the demonic broadsword and pulled down hard, sending both the blade and its owner aside.

Dante touched the ground with one palm and bounced himself back onto his feet. The chain sickle was flung towards him and swung Rebellion upwards to knock the weapon away. Ariel spun her chain right round and struck the sickle to the side of a building and pulled onto it, which elevated her upwards. She touched the side of the building and suddenly light blue glowing ‘wings’ appeared behind her and she launched herself at the half demon with tremendous speed.

The demon hunter braced himself for the attack and once she was close enough, he grabbed her by the hands and threw it downwards. He didn’t realize she had brought her chain weapon down with her and it caught the back of his neck, bringing him down to the ground as well. Ariel had her weapon disappear and she got up to her feet and dusted herself off, then helped the demon hunter up as well. “That was great! You are really strong, Dante!”

“Heh. You too, kid.” The half demon returned the compliment as he pressed against his back. “But you still got a lot to learn.” He said with slight truth, the angel was definitely skilled enough to handle her own, but he just cannot see her actually hurting someone with malicious intent.

“Oh my, the time!” She gasped as she looked at her watch. “I really must be going now, _mon parents_ are expecting me for dinner!” She ran over to the stairs to grab her bag that had been resting by there. “It was a pleasure meeting all of you!” She said with a wave and they all returned it.

“So I guess you are coming back tomorrow?” Dante asked curiously.

“Of course, I am your student now, after all!” Ariel said and she shook the half demon’s hand. “Thank you for the lesson today, Mister Dante!” She began walking off and waving back to them all. “ _Au revoir_ , everyone!” The angel was smiling ear to ear and her eyes began glowing a light blue and in an instant she had phased away out of sight, leaving behind a short lasting blue and white gust of wind.

Dante walked back to the steps and carelessly dropped Rebellion aside before he dropped down to sit on the steps again. “How’d I do?”

“Could’ve been better.”

“But you didn’t teach her anything?”

“I mean, I wouldn't take you on a date, Fabio.”

“ _Eh._ "

“You did great!”

“You did awful.”

Dante had a deadpan expression and he rubbed his face with both hands. That angel that believed she was a demon, Ariel, really was a tough opponent. But as said before, she was way too kind, almost seeing fighting as a fun, innocent game. If he were to send her out on a mission of her own, he fear’d she would end up trying to make friends with demons instead of fighting them. Her kindness could even end with her death. So he was stuck with two choices, teach her to properly fight and kill to ensure her own protection, or maintain her innocence and perhaps lead her on a different path to learn another trade?

Later that night, Anti-Venom eventually made his leave as well, no one had the heart to tell him to leave due to his rather kind and silly nature. Dante finally delved back onto his couch and instantly fell asleep, with Wade passing by and setting a blanket over his friend.

“So what do you guys think about that Ariel girl?” asked Trish, she was seated on the dinner table with the others, quietly eating some spaghetti Wade and Patty cooked up.

“I think she’s cool.” Lady admitted with a shrug. “Don’t know why you’re so worked up over her.”

The demoness looked down and idly rolled her fork around the spaghetti noodles. “No one is _that_ nice to people they just met, right…? She could be hiding something.”

“Or maybe she’s just a nice person?” The raven haired woman offered and she held the other woman’s hand. “It’ll be fine, I promise!” She assured with her biggest smile. Trish smiled back and returned to eating.

_I hope you’re right, Mary._

**To Be Continued...**


	20. Baby May Cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Devil May Cry team are faced with their greatest challenge yet... babysitting.

The chain sickle was swung around with its owner purposely giving her sparring partner a large window of space. Ariel pulled back her weapon and caught the grip, she was eager to hear how she had done after their long winded training session. “What do you think, _mademoiselle_?”

Lady didn’t even have to step anywhere to dodge that attack and she sighed, stepping towards the angel. “Listen El, if you’re gonna wanna properly take your enemy out you gotta let loose and make sure your weapon hits them!” She was worried that the angel either was purposely holding back or just had no intent on actually hurting anyone.

“But what if they get too hurt?” Ariel asked with a frown. “I do not think I would be able to handle the guilt of that!”

“Dude, you shouldn’t feel any guilt if you hurt some asshole or someone that was intending to kill you. It’s basic self defense.” Lady pointed out, her arms crossed.

“Hmm, well what if I do not need to fight?” the angel asked again and her weapons phased away. “I could always talk to them out of trying to kill me!”

The demon huntress opened her mouth to say something, but instead she exhaled and changed what she was going to say. “But that’s no use! What if they’re a frickin’ evil demon hell bent on killing everything and everyone in its path?”

Ariel frowned again, “I do not believe that someone, even a demon, can be entirely evil....” She met the other woman’s dual colored eyes and looked more confident now. “I mean, look at me! I’m a demon and I am quite nice, right? So that is more than enough reason for me to believe that everyone, no matter what they had done, has good in them! They just have to find it in them!”

Lady had a faint smile, she remembered when she was that innocent and believing in others. She sighed and set her rocket launcher down on the stairs. She had to look into buying proper training equipment and non lethal weapons for Ariel, the others and herself to use. “Alright, alright. We’re finished for today.” She said as she sat down. “You did good, El. But I know you can do better.”

“ _Merci_ , _mon amie_! I will try better next time!” Ariel said gratefully and took a seat next to the demon huntress after tapped the spot next to her. She was offered a beer and she politely refused it, preferring some mineral water instead.

The two sat together and idly talked about a few things like weapons, tactics, music, and apparently school work. Turns out the two young women actually went to the same college in town but unfortunately their schedules never met as Lady’s classes were at night as opposed to Ariel’s day classes. Their conversation was halted when they noticed an approaching young couple rolling a stroller towards them.

Lady set down her beer and stood up, dusting off her backside before she spoke up to the couple. “How can we help you?” she asked kindly.

“Well…” the husband began and met his wife’s eyes momentarily. “Me and my wife have heard the Devil May Cry is a shop that can solve any problem, no matter what?”

“Uh, kind of?” Lady answered with her brows slightly faltering.

“Good to hear!” the wife chirped and she knelt down on the stroller and folded the sun cover up, revealing a snoozing child that had to be a few months old at best. “Our child, Annabelle… we humbly request if you can perhaps babysit her?”

The demon huntress’ smile twitched a bit. “B-Babysit…?” She heard Ariel gasping in delight upon seeing the baby though.

“Only for until tonight, it is all we ask for you! It is our honeymoon is today and every babysitter close is either booked or not responding to calls...” the husband further added. He produced a checkbook from his coat and a pen, preparing to write down a price. “Please, we may not have much but name any price you like and I will--”

Ariel shot up, slightly startling the man. “We’ll do it for free!” She said, looking over at Lady who had her mouth agape. “No need for payment, especially when it involves such a _mignon petit enfant_!” She crouched down and was smiling ear to ear at the sleeping child in the stroller.

“H-Hey, wait…” Lady tried to say but both the husband and wife began shaking both of her hands and thanking her repeatedly. The couple said their goodbyes to their child and waved to the two young women as they left.

“Have fun!” Ariel called as she waved back at the couple until they were out of sight. “They were rather nice, weren’t they?” She asked the other woman.

“Yeah, they were…” The demon huntress said unsurely and she knelt down to see the baby up close for herself. She gingerly picked up the child in her hands and balanced her in her arms. “You’re kind of cute, I guess.” She said to the still asleep child.

“ _Tres mignon_!” agreed Ariel happily. “We should take her inside and get her settled.”

“Good idea.”

Lady brought Annabelle into the office while Ariel was behind her holding a folded stroller in her arms. The angel set down the stroller while the demon huntress planted herself on the couch. “This isn’t so bad, right?” she asked aloud, “Taking care of a baby is probably the easiest--” The baby immediately began bawling seconds after waking up. Lady nearly dropped the child at the sudden outburst and she looked visibly shaken, clearly regretting what she had said.

“Oh no, Annabelle!” Ariel gasped in shock and ran over to Lady, who was holding the baby infront of her.

“H-Hey, quit crying kid!” Lady begged Annabelle with a grimaced expression. “If you don’t stop crying, I’ll start crying too!” She said and her frown grew wider as the baby continued on. She was nearly going to begin crying herself until Ariel picked up the baby for herself and faced her.

“Shh…” the angel cooed quietly to the baby and she instantly stopped her tears.

Lady had a completely bewildered expression as her eyes looked back and forth towards the small child to the angel. “What.”

“It only works on beings with underdeveloped brains.” Ariel explained and raised her brows.

“Uh, okay.” the demon huntress said and adjusted her hold on baby Annabelle. Something suddenly hit her mind and she had a shocked look come across her face. “Aw mother fucking shit! Her parents didn’t even give us diapers or food!”

“Then we have to get them!” Ariel said quickly, but her watch began beeping. “Oh no… apologies, _mademoiselle_ , but I don’t think I will be much of help now that my class is starting very soon...”

“What?!” Lady blurted out, but realized she was too loud and she winced. She checked on the baby in her arms and sighed with relief upon seeing it hadn’t woken up. She looked back up to see the angel was gathering her things and throwing them all in her bag. “W-Wait, El, you gotta teach me the _‘shh’_ thing before you go!”

“Hm?” Ariel turned her head back at the woman once she was at the door. A nervous smile formed on her lips and she shrugged her shoulders, “Oh, um… it only works once.”

The demon huntress was going to scream but mentally slapped herself, she kept forgetting there was a tiny sleeping baby in her hands and she had to hold off on her usual shouting. “Shit…”

“Profanity.” the angel said and she waved at her. “Good luck, Miss Lady! I believe the others will be coming by any minute, so please do not be fearful. I believe in you!”

Lady smiled meekly and her friend left, the sound of her teleport being muffled from behind the door. “Thanks, El…” she said with a sigh. “Well… atleast you’re quiet now--”

Baby Annabelle woke up, staring right at the woman who was holding her. The demon huntress felt multiple sweat drops pass her brow and she continued to repeat _‘Please don’t cry’_ in her head over and over. Unfortunately, the baby began to bawl as loud as possible, slightly startling the woman.

“I need to learn how to keep my big mouth shut!” Lady shouted to no one in particular, having completely disregarded her volume control now that the baby was loud as well. She wished Trish were here with her.

The doors opened again, she assumed it was Ariel that possibly had forgotten something or maybe Trish, which she hoped for the most. It was Bulleta instead, having returned from a solo mission. “What’s up, Lady?” she greeted.

“Kat!” Lady said and shot up, running towards the younger demon huntress. “Here!” she handed baby Annabelle to the blonde. “I’ll be right back!”

“Wait, what.” Bulleta deadpanned, confused. She looked at the crying child in her hands with concern and a slight wince. “Who the hell’s baby is this?!”

“Some people’s!” Lady tried explaining while throwing on a motorcycle jacket. She grabbed her helmet that was placed on the pool table and made her way towards the door. “Her name is Annabelle and she cries a lot, just do whatever you can to make her calm down! I gotta get her baby things!”

“Wait, slow down!” the younger devil huntress pleaded as she watched the woman rush out through the doors. She was alone now and she heard the sound of Lady’s motorcycle revving up and speeding down the street over the bawling of the baby. “I… don’t know how to take care of a baby.” she said quietly, frowning at the child she held so awkwardly in her hands. _Fuck._

“What the hell is all the ruckus?” asked a groggy sounding voice from the stairs. Bulleta looked over to see Dante, dressed only in his boxers, walking down the steps. The half demon stopped in place after seeing what Bulleta held in her hands. “What the hell is _that_?”

“Annabelle, some baby Lady left me to take care of!” the blonde said quickly. “Do you know how to make it stop crying?! It’s driving me crazy!”

Dante cringed at the loud noise that threatened to make his eardrums bleed. He walked towards his friend and held his hands out, “Lemme see the brat.” Bulleta gladly handed the child over to the half demon.

The white haired demon hunter held baby Annabelle awkwardly as well and he made her face him directly. The blonde looked over with slight anticipation, she was expecting her elder to know exactly what to do. “Kid.” Dante began, his ice blue eyes narrowed at the bawling child. “Shut up.”

Bulleta facepalmed, she didn’t know why for one second she believed Dante would be successful.

“Be quiet. You’re being really rude, y’know.” Dante continued scolding the child who only continued crying in return. “Listen to me. Hey, don’t cry while I’m talking to you.”

The office doors opened up again with Trish and Wade entering, both having concerned expressions at the sound of crying. “What the fuck is _that_?” Wade questioned, staring with a disgusted expression at the child in his friend’s hands.

“Dunno, but it’s really rude.” Dante answered with a frown.

Trish took the baby from the half demon’s hands and actually held it much more reasonable compared to the others. She allowed baby Annabelle to lay her head over her shoulder and the demoness simply patted the baby’s back. The child let out a small burp and it immediately went back to sleep, much to everyone’s surprise.

“How the hell did you do that...?” asked the half devil with a raised brow.

“Saw it on TV.” Trish answered casually. “And that’s absolutely all I know about taking care of children so… we’re kind of screwed.”

“Who’s frickin’ baby is this anyway?!” the Merc with the Mouth demanded loudly, earning him a harsh hushing from Bulleta and he was quick to correct his tone. “What, did a fucking stork burst into the office and give us this brat like _Yoshi’s Island_ or some shit?”

“Language, Wade.” Dante said with a frown. He knew personally his friend would tend to curse intensively whenever he was stressed.

“Oh, suck a cock.”

Trish narrowed her eyes at Wade and handed Annabelle to him, “You know what? _You_ take care of this kid. I’m not a fan of children.” she began walking towards the kitchen to retrieve something from the fridge. "Where's Lady, by the way?”

Bulleta looked at Wade for a moment to see he too was properly holding the sleeping baby in his arms, but with a grimaced expression. “Uhh, she went to the store I think to get the baby some things.”

“I’m not even gonna question why we have a baby in the office anyway.” Trish said as she returned with an entire bottle of vodka (she knew it was going to be a long day.) “Last job had each of us taking care of house plants. Which is actually much better than this.”

The mercenary set the child down on the couch after it had woken up, but didn’t promptly cry like usual. He sat down on the table with his hand on his chin while Dante knelt down next to him. “Does anyone even know how to take care of a kid?” the half demon asked aloud and was met with collective murmurs and shrugs.

“Have you ever taken a human life?” Wade asked baby Annabelle with a tilted head.

“Do you wanna read or something, kid?” Dante said as he showed a rather inappropriate magazine to the child, who luckily was still way too young to even understand the explicit images. Bulleta was quick to swipe away the magazine and throw it across the room, while the half demon watched that action with slight disappointment.

Trish set her vodka bottle down and showed a chessboard to Annabelle, “You play chess?” she asked, her smile faltering when the baby began chewing and drooling over the edge of the chessboard. “Well, guess I’m not playing chess ever again.”

“Want me to teach you how to field strip an assault rifle?”

“You ever killed a demon before, kid?”

“I wonder if vodka can make me forget all about this.”

Even if she didn’t know a single thing about child care, Bulleta knew these three were definitely not fit to take care of one.

The double doors shot open once more and Lady had already returned with a few plastic bags hanging around her arms. “I’m back!” the demon huntress called and she dumped the contents of the bags onto the other couch. She had bought a single pack of diapers, baby food, formula, and strangely enough a chew toy made for dogs. “Everything a baby needs, I think…”

“Okay, we got the supplies.” Dante noted and looked back at Annabelle. “Just what to do with this little thing...”

Lady shrugged her shoulders and focused her attention on Trish, both of them smiling once they locked eyes. “I thought I was gonna have to look after the kid myself!” she said and she left a small kiss on the demoness’ cheek before walking over to the kitchen.

“You know I always got you covered.” Trish said, blushing a bit and resting her hand on the spot the other woman had kissed her.

“Well, the baby stopped crying… I think we should all take turns watching her.” Bulleta offered as she allowed Annabelle to hold her fingers.

Wade tapped the blonde’s shoulder and nodded, “Wooow, that’s a really good idea, Kat!” he said with a smile that quickly went away as he began walking away. “Not it.”

“Me neither.” Dante quickly added and strolled off back upstairs.

“Nope.”

“Fuck that shit.”

“God dammit.” Bulleta cursed to herself and she dropped her face on the couch. She felt the baby slightly tug at her beanie and she raised her head again to see Annabelle smiling. Just the sight of that made the demon huntress’ heart warm up and smile wide. “Heh. I’m sure it won’t be so bad, right kid?” she said to Annabelle and carefully scooped her up in her arms.

The rest of the day was spent with the employees of the Devil May Cry looking after the baby every hour. Bulleta and Annabelle got along quite well, with the baby resting quietly on the blonde’s chest as she laid back on the couch, texting her friends and finishing up some studying. Dante was eventually up and the child was much more active, he carried her around the office and talked to her as if she was any other person his age. He tossed the baby up and down, catching her swiftly each time, much to the horror of Bulleta who watched with increasing worry, as opposed to Annabelle’s excited laughter each time she was thrown upwards.

Wade’s shift was up and he sat with Annabelle on the couch, turning on his favorite classic cartoons and the two watched together. Whenever he would laugh, she would laugh as well. It was simple enough that the sound the merc’s laugh gave her enough reason to laugh too. After that he had played peek-a-boo with her around the office with his teleporter and she crawled about the floor searching for the disappearing merc with determination.

Lady and Trish shared a shift, with the demoness holding the sleeping Annabelle in her arms while she sung quietly to her. The demon huntress however held up her phone in front of the three of them and took a picture. Trish’s face was flushed with a deep red when she saw Lady had captioned the picture: _‘me and my bae with our new baby girl!!!!! #samelove motherfuckers eat shit haters B)’_

It cycled back to Bulleta and as she watched Annabelle play around with one of Lady’s plush bears she took a picture of her and sent it to her friends, earning some rather interesting comments.

_‘Silvia O’Connor: OMGGG SO CUTE IM DEAD *^*’_

_‘Joe Black: Wow when did you get a kid my dudette??’_

_‘Kaine Parker: thats an ugly ass kid’_

_‘Katrina Krieger: Don’t be rude’_

_‘Kaine Parker: no im good’_

_‘Silvia O’Connor: Oh, shut up Kaine! >.> You’re just jealous! :P’_

_‘Kaine Parker: sure am’_

_‘Joe Black: Kat, she looks just like you!!!’_

_‘Kaine Parker: yeah if you and patty had a kid or some shit’_

Bulleta quickly blushed upon reading the last two messages and she covered up her smile with her free hand before quickly typing in a response that she hadn’t even bothered spelling its entirety out.

_‘Katrina Krieger: Stfu’_

Eventually night fell and along with it, Ariel returned back to the Devil May Cry office. She was more than happy to see the baby was still doing well and she volunteered to care for it in place of people’s shifts. Dante and Wade were more than eager to allow the angel cover for them while they went off to do their usual lazing about.

Bulleta sat on the kitchen counter with a plate of heated up spaghetti. She was watching as Ariel was readying some formula for baby Annabelle she held in one arm. The angel was speaking in French to the baby in a child like tone and accompanied it with a few silly faces and this all amused Annabelle.

“You seem to know what you’re doing, Ellie.” commented Bulleta, impressed.

“Yes, I used to do a few babysitting jobs when I was your age!” Ariel explained and made a kissy face to Annabelle, who smiled widely. “Isn’t that right, _ma petit chou-fleur_? Yes it is~!”

The blonde demon huntress chuckled lightly and continued finishing up her spaghetti.

Wade fiddled around with the jukebox and started up _Sober_ by _Childish Gambino_. He tapped against the machine with a smile and jumped back to the couch, where Dante casually shifted his body to allow his friend some space to land. “Round 2, Wade.” The half demon said as he handed a controller to the mercenary.

“I _would_ say you're about to have a bad time, but I think that's overused now.” he responded after taking the controller. The two resumed their intense game of Super Smash Bros. while Trish and Lady sat together on the other couch sharing a large blanket. Bulleta and Ariel eventually joined, the angel mostly preoccupied with feeding Annabelle though.

“Tell me about what you’re reading.” Lady said as she nuzzled up against Trish’s neck and closed her eyes. Taking care of Annabelle had surprisingly tired her and the others out. Fighting demons seemed much easier in comparison now.

“Well…” Trish began and she pushed up against the frame of her glasses. She knew whenever Lady asks her to read something it’s just an excuse so she can fall asleep, not that she minded though, especially if the woman was quite the cuddler. “It’s not really something I should read, especially if you’re about to sleep.” she explained as she placed a bookmark on where she left off and set the book aside, the author of it being _H.P. Lovecraft_ , notable for creating stories with unimaginable abominations. Ever since meeting whatever it was in the crater back in Sokovia, the demoness grew a strange desire to read up more about otherworldly horrors.

“You need to stop reading those nightmare books. It’s probably bad on your skin.” the raven haired woman commented, she didn’t even have to look to know exactly what Trish had been reading.

The demoness smiled and grabbed another book from the table, “How about this one. It’s about a father of two brothers…” she looked over at Dante briefly, imagining his own twin brother Vergil was seated next to him as well. “... who went to hell and back to see his sons again.”

“I like that one.” Lady smiled and hugged the other woman a bit tighter. “It’s badass.”

A few hours passed of more babysitting and one by one people began falling asleep instantly in their spots. Trish and Lady were snuggled together on the couch, the younger of the two snoring loudly. Dante had voluntarily slept just to avoid his shift and he took up the whole couch while Wade fell asleep on the floor, his arm reaching out to the TV so he could shut it off, which ended in failure.

Bulleta stepped over her friend’s arm and shut the TV off for him, she was the last one standing as even Ariel ended up dozing off upstairs, class had taken a small toll on her after all. “Wait here a minute, kid.” the demon huntress said quietly to Annabelle as she set the baby down on a pillow placed on the floor.

She heaved Wade up behind her back and carefully carried him up the stairs. She settled him into one of the rooms and returned back downstairs. “Oi, oi, don’t worry, I’m here.” Bulleta assured the baby who had been crying since she left. Everyone was too deep in their sleep to even hear Annabelle’s crying though.

“I got you…” the blonde yawned as she picked up the crying child in her arms. Her eyes felt heavy and she sat back on a chair trying to calm Annabelle down.

The doors slowly opened and for once, she hoped it wasn’t someone offering a job. She was too tired to focus and she had school tomorrow. Her oceanic eyes lit up slightly when she saw it was Patty, staring with wide eyes at her and the baby in her arms.

Patty quietly closed the doors and walked over to Bulleta with her hands out. The blonde was more than glad to hand the child to the other girl and she watched as Patty sing quietly to the baby as she rocked in her in arms. Annabelle slowly quieted down and fell back asleep. Bulleta watched Patty continue her caring and she felt a warm sensation come from her chest that spread throughout her body. A lazy, but wide smile came across her lips and she managed to stand up to her two feet.

“Katrina, you should slee--” Patty offered but was cut off when the other girl held her in a hug. A blush came across her face this time.

“I’m so tired… but you look so cute with a baby in your hands...” whispered Bulleta groggily as she dug her face in the other girl’s shoulder.

Thankfully the blonde’s face was buried in her shoulder, otherwise she would have seen Patty’s completely red face by now. “T-Thank you. So did you…”

After they let one another go, Bulleta shifted Dante’s legs up to another direction as per usual and allowed herself and Patty to sit on the couch. Bulleta was already fast asleep and her head was resting on Patty’s shoulder, who was still holding a snoozing Annabelle in her arms. She was close to falling asleep as well, but had to stay awake to wait for the child’s parents. So she preoccupied herself with thinking about the girl she met at the pier and what other things she would bring her. Perhaps she would try sparking up another conversation, even if their silent meetings were pleasant.

There was a knock on the door and a couple poked their heads in after slowly opening the door. They looked about the office that was filled with people that were asleep and they tried their best to be quiet. Patty stood up and walked towards them with Annabelle and the couple accepted their child gratefully. They quietly thanked the flaxen haired girl and told her to give their thanks to the rest of her friends as well whenever they awoke.

Patty whispered a goodbye to baby Annabelle and waved off the family that left through the doors. She shut and locked the doors, then began turning off a few lights in the office. She smiled seeing Bulleta asleep on the couch and she took her spot back, then nuzzled up against the blonde, eventually falling asleep.

**To Be Continued...**


	21. We Are Venom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new and dangerous threat arises and Anti-Venom seeks the assistance of the Devil May Cry team.

A white metallic mask styled after a skull was picked up by gloved hands and then placed over the man’s face. Glowing orange slits appeared in the center of the mask’s two eye sockets and a navy blue hood was pulled over his head.

“Ready sir?” a soldier asked. They were dressed in black and grey colored combat gear, their face obscured by a gasmask and helmet combo. The other soldiers in the ship were dressed similarly and were readying their various weapons.

“More than ready.” the skull masked man said smugly, speaking in a strong Brooklyn accent beneath his mask. This was Taskmaster, aka Tony Masters, a mercenary for hire with superhuman photographic reflexes which allow him to mimic other people’s abilities or fighting styles by simply watching them perform it.

Taskmaster threw on a grey tactical vest over the rest of his navy blue, grey and white colored combat armor. He adjusted the claymore sword fitted behind him and continued loading up his various weapons. The mercenary didn’t quite expect to be approached by ‘Albert Wesker’ for a job involving of retrieving some sort of bioweapon for them. Though, he knew very well they were his sibling simply posing as their brother, he had previously met Albert and with enough research, was aware of the mad scientist having siblings. He chose to not dwell into it too much, after all he’s only in it for the money, not at all caring for the details. He briefly looked over at one of the soldier’s shoulder patch, noticing it had three red eyes and the words _‘MUNDUS UNIT’_ printed on it. The merc made a brief mental note to research into that as well when he had the chance.

Alex Wesker had hired Taskmaster to hunt down Mac Gargan, the current host of the Venom symbiote after it had debonded from Eddie Brock, the current Anti-Venom. The little explanation they gave was that one of their moles that had been captured by the police after his demon summoner was destroyed. The mole ended up confessing what he knew about their organization and he ended up being silenced by one of Alex’s undercover operatives in his cell before he could give out any more details.

“Approaching drop point.” the pilot of the ship announced over radio and the operatives readied themselves.

The ship landed and the hatch opened, with Taskmaster leading the soldiers out. They followed the signal they had planted on their target into a sewer hatch that had already been opened. “This chump betta be worth the smell.” the mercenary muttered to himself and he began climbing down the ladder, while the other Mundus Unit operatives followed closely.

\---

Venom sprinted through the sewers, his feet quickly splashing on the disgusting water below him. He doesn’t know what these armed people want with him, though being a notorious criminal he hadn’t really been surprised they even began chasing him. If only his symbiote wasn’t so weak at the moment, he knew he could’ve taken them all out in seconds. A small voice that he presumed was his symbiote sounded very weak and kept repeating the word _‘infect.’_ He chose to ignore it and kept running, he needed to find a quiet place first then figure out why his symbiote was acting up.

“Quitcha runnin’ ya frickin’ coward!” He heard one of the armed men shout at him in a rather grating accent. Venom grit his large fangs and began sprinting on all fours like an animal. Bullets began whizzing by him but he knew they would need much more than that to effectively take him out.

Venom leaped forward towards a wall and crawled into one of the darker corners to hide from his pursuers. The multiple splashing footsteps edged closer and closer and the symbiote readied himself for a surprise attack, only to hear the footsteps all suddenly halt. A small device was thrown into small area he had cooped himself in and before he realized it, the device opened up and began emitting an ear piercing noise that disrupted Venom’s senses.

The noise stopped and the symbiote fell forwards into the shallow, disgusting waters with his palms held against his head in an effort to ease the intense ringing in his ears.

Taskmaster walked up to the downed symbiote and thrusted his sword through his neck. Venom let out a ruptured roar and wrapped his hands around the blade piercing through his throat. “End of the line, Gargan!" The mercenary said and drove his claymore deeper. “Give up that ol’ alien goop and I just might letcha walk outta here alive!”

“ _You want it?_ ” Venom grumbled under his breath and his hands gripped into fists. “ _THEN COME AND TAKE IT FROM US!_ ” he shouted and tore the sword out of his throat, while an uncountable amount of black tentacles appeared all over his body and began thrashing around the entire room.

Taskmaster hopped back in place while deflecting a few tentacles with an energy shield a device on his left arm produced. The Mundus Unit soldiers around him fired their flamethrowers wildly around, some of them were impaled by sharp tendrils, others were taken and slammed around.

Venom lunged forward at Taskmaster and brought down both of his fists, only for the mercenary to roll out of the way, sticking an incendiary grenade in the body of the symbiote. “Burn in hell, ya freak!”

The grenade exploded and flames poured all over Venom’s body, causing him to lose control of himself and swipe wildly around with his claws and tendrils. He attacked various soldiers, tearing them in two with his bare hands. Taskmaster hopped over to retrieve his claymore sword, only to notice something on the weapon that made him smirk underneath his skull mask.

“We gettin’ outta here!” the mercenary called to the other operatives. He dashed towards Venom, who had been far too busy attempting to attack the others, and sliced at his back with the sword. The symbiote growled and slashed behind him, only for Taskmaster to parry it with his energy shield and cause the symbiote to fall over to the side.

Two Mundus Unit soldiers aimed their assault rifles upwards, firing the grenade launcher attachments at the ceiling. Large pieces of rubble crumbled and crushed Venom before he had been able to get back on his feet. The two continued destroying the room with grenades while the others retrieved the bodies of their fallen comrades and began making their way back out to the exit.

“You sure we should pull out?” one of the soldiers asked Taskmaster. “We didn’t even kill the damn thing.”

“Don’t need to.” the mercenary raised up his sword, revealing the bubbling black ooze it had been coated in. “We got what we needed.”

The operatives escaped before the entire sewer system could collapse on them, leaving Venom to his doom.

\---

There was a furious pounding at the doors of the Devil May Cry office, catching everyone’s attention but nobody had bothered to even get up to answer it for a few minutes. After a few seconds of _‘not it’s’_ , Trish groaned and got up from her comfortable spot with Lady. “Fine, I’ll do it you god damn bums.”

The demoness had barely even opened the door and she was nearly tackled out of the way of a large white creature that rushed in. It was Anti-Venom much to everyone’s surprise, but from his body language and face, it looked like he didn’t have any good news.

“ _Symbiotes in the city…_ ” he growled through his teeth. “ _Did you all see the news?_ ”

“Who watches the news anymore?” scoffed Lady and she returned to focusing on her laptop.

Anti-Venom grumbled something under his breath and picked up a remote from the table, turning on the TV. It was a news report about the nearby city of San Francisco having been under some sort of biological attack and people were being warned about staying as far from the city as possible. The reporter also spoke about some of the infection had managed to leak through into nearby cities as well, including the one the Devil May Cry team were located in. The TV showed a live video feed of the city in smokes and several buildings covered in a strange black webbing-like material. It cut to another shot with multiple ooze covered creatures chasing civilians around the streets.

“Oh man, someone should do something about that.” Wade said, not even half interested at the report. He looked around at the now serious expressions of his friends and he went silent for a moment. “Shitty titty, _we’re_ that someone aren’t we...?”

“ _Some of the symbiotes leaked into this city’s limits, but I had managed to take them out._ ” Anti-Venom explained, “ _I know exactly who is behind this. It is the accursed demon, Venom, and its host Mac Gargan._ ”

“Well what the hell are we waiting for?!” Lady asked and tossed her laptop aside. “Let’s get in there and fuck him up into next Tuesday!”

Anti-Venom awaited the demon hunters to gather their things, being notified by Trish that she had called in a friend to provide them a ride to the infected city.

“I was just about to take a nap too.” Dante groaned as he adjusted his red coat on his person. He loaded up two shells into Coyote-A and hid it away inside his coat.

“You can take all the naps you want after we get finished with this.” scolded Trish as she balanced the Sword of Sparda behind her. She held her phone to her ear and began walking outside while speaking to her Quinjet pilot, Ray.

“ _We need to hurry._ ” Anti-Venom urged the others who were rushing out while tucking in their clothes and loading up their weapons. “ _If we don’t take out Gargan now the entire state could become infected with the Venom symbiote._ ”

Deadpool groaned and pushed the office doors open with Anti-Venom. “You know I moved out of New York just to avoid shit like this happening, but here I am, about to experience the shit that is happening.”

“ _I know the feel._ ” the symbiote muttered an agreement.

“What about Kat and Patty?” asked Lady as she adjusted her rocket launcher’s strap.

“I’ll shoot Ariel a text that her training today will be cancelled and instead have her watch over the shop and wait for the girls.” Dante said as he pulled out his phone and began doing just as he said.

The Quinjet Ray piloted landed right in front of the team and the back hatch opened up for them to enter. “Here we are again, right ladies?” Ray said to Lady and Trish who greeted them.

“I sure hope your guys acted quickly on this situation.” Trish said as she took the seat next to Ray.

“We responded as soon as we could. Right now S.H.I.E.L.D. had managed to close off the main infected part of the city to prevent any further outbreaks.” Ray explained as they began lifting off the Quinjet. “Setting course for San Francisco, everyone buckle up!”

\---

The school’s alarm began blaring throughout every single classroom, waking Katrina out of her sleep. The teacher told everyone to exit the room in the calmest way possible but the students did just the opposite as everyone began making a break for the door. “Shit.” the devil huntress cursed under her breath and she shook her friend’s shoulder, who was still asleep despite the alarms. “Kaine, wake up!”

“5 more minutes…” the brunette mumbled, earning himself a slap on the back of the head. “Ow, fuck, fine! God dammit.”

Katrina and Kaine made their way out of the class, their first priority though was to meet up with Joe and Silvia then get out of the school. “What do you think it is?” asked the blonde as she uncomfortably pushed her way through the crowds of people.

“Fuck if I know.” Kaine said and he turned his head back briefly to spot a creature break in through the window from the end of the hall. “Fuck, now I do know.”

The rest of the students saw the creature and panicked even further, practically pushing and shoving one another out of the way to escape the large fanged creature that was rushing towards them.

“Oh motherfu--” Katrina cursed through her grit teeth. Despite being weaponless, she went towards the creature and allowed the other students to pass her by. She noticed her friend was doing the same as her and she shot him a glare, “Get out of here, Kaine.”

“ _You_ get out of here.” the brunette retorted in an instant, not at all taking his eyes off the incoming creature. “... You’re not getting out of here, are you?”

“No.”

The two finally pushed past the crowd and sprinted towards the creature, which lunged forward at them. Katrina slid on her knees and the creature barely missed her. During her slide she made a grab for the creature’s two legs and halted it briefly in the air, allowing Kaine to step in and deliver a vicious haymaker to the side of its head. The creature struck the lockers and left a deep dent within the metal. It tore itself away from the metal and launched itself again at Katrina, who sidestepped it and grabbed its head, then drove it into a nearby water fountain.

She was landing a flurry of strong hooks into the creature’s jaw, tearing some of its large teeth off its mouth. After a beat, Kaine stepped in with a piece of the broken locker metal and stabbed it right through the creature’s head, finally killing it. The creature slowly melted into a small black ooze that soon faded away from view.

“What the fuck is this thing?” Katrina asked aloud, wiping her ooze stained hands on her jeans.

“It’s a symbiote.” answered Kaine almost immediately. “Basically some shit from space that looks for hosts to possess and make evil. My, uh, brother had an unlucky run in with one of them and since then we seem to can’t ever get rid of these things.”

The demon huntress gave her friend a strange look for his sudden knowledge on the creature, but she decided not to comment on it. “C’mon, we gotta meet up with Silvia and Joe.”

“You go on ahead.” Kaine said and began walking off, “I’ll meet up with you guys in a minute.”

A brow raised on Katrina’s face, she never seen her friend act this strange before. “You sure?”

“Yep.” he answered and she saw him turn a corner, disappearing from view.

Katrina had a disgruntled look across her face before turning to run the other direction, taking one look back onto her phone to pinpoint where her other friends were located to meet up with them.

After confirming his friend was gone, Kaine let out a rather exaggerated sigh. _I never wanted to be a ‘superhero’, but when shit like this goes down, I kind of fucking have to god dammit..._  he mused in his mind and he removed his black sweater, revealing a red and black suit with a black spider emblem at the center. “I’d rather go get piss drunk or sleep or some shit.” he said aloud and took out a black mask with red eye pieces from his back pocket, gazing at it for a moment. _Peter… bro... I’m_ so _gonna kick your ass for this._

\---

Katrina ducked down to avoid another swipe from a symbiote, as Kaine had called it. She raised herself up again and this time caught the arm of the creature, then flung it across the hall. Silvia was behind her with her baseball bat raised, she had been in softball practice when the alarms suddenly blared after all. Though she was visibly shaking and unable to move at the sight of the creature her friend continued to fight with nothing but her bare hands. _She doesn’t even look scared! Is she crazy?!_ she screamed in her head, while her boyfriend was hiding behind her jittering in fear as well.

“Oh, what I would do for something sharp… or that could shoot bullets.” the demon huntress muttered as the symbiote got up once more, not at all looking ready to go down after all the punishment she had given to it. It flared its teeth at her once more and charged again on all fours and Katrina braced herself again. To her surprise, something wrapped around the symbiote’s throat and dragged it away. On the other end was a man in a red and black suit, who was dragging the symbiote towards him with what appeared to be a line made of web.

The Scarlet Spider pulled the symbiote towards him and spun around to perform a fast roundhouse kick that tore its head clean off. “Now I know why my brother hates you shits.” he said under his breath as he watched the creature fade away in a black ooze. He looked over to see his friends gawking in his direction and he mentally cursed himself out each second that passed. “Uh…” he trailed off, trying to speak in a different tone of voice. He feared what would happen if his friends found out his identity, he knew it’d just be plain embarrassing. “Citizens… you should, uh, get the fuck out.” _Shit, I cussed again. Heroes don’t do that, do they?_

“Yeah... that was the plan.” Katrina responded slowly. She looked back at her friends, who had stopped quivering in fear. Notably Joe, whose expression had completely changed. He looked almost… starstruck. “C’mon guys, let’s get out of here. Kaine’s probably waiting in the parking lot.”

“Y-Yeah.” Silvia nodded and eased her grip on her baseball bat. She began following Katrina, the demon huntress was wasting no time at all. Though Silvia looked back to see her boyfriend still staring at the suited man. “Joe! Come on!”

“You’re a superhero!” Joe managed to squeal out, not noticing Scarlet Spider immediately lower his head.

“I _knew_ this was gonna happen.” he muttered to himself. He was glad Silvia drag Joe away on his heels as she followed Katrina. He decided to stay some distance behind them to watch out for any stray symbiotes that might see his friends as an easy meal.

Scarlet Spider swung from the large light poles around the parking lot, still closely following his friends. He hadn’t seen a single symbiote ever since those gasmask wearing soldiers began storming in the school and escorting students out. He saw the words _‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’_ imprinted on their blue armor and he briefly remembered his ‘brother’ telling him about these people and thankfully they were on the good guys’ side.

Katrina patted her pockets and cursed loudly. “Kaine didn’t give me the keys!” she looked around the area and then upwards to see that suited man still keeping an eye on them. “Do you want to help or what?” she asked towards the man who darted his head around as if there were any other person she could have directed the question at.

“Silvia, Silvia!” Joe called his girlfriend as he repeatedly tapped his hands on her back. “I can’t believe we got the honor of getting escorted by Spider-Man!”

“Hey, no I am _not_ Spider-Man!” Scarlet Spider immediately shouted upon hearing this. He hopped down and walked towards his shorter friend, “Not. Spider. Man.”

“We get it, Kaine.” Katrina said casually, her friend quickly shooting his head towards her in surprise. “You’re not really good at hiding your voice by the way. Plus you’re still carrying your backpack. So how about them fucking keys, huh?”

Scarlet Spider was now speechless, but since they had already figured it out he might as well stop caring as well. “Fine, fine.” he threw his backpacks towards his friend who caught it, searching in the pockets for the keys.

“K-Kaine!?” Joe stuttered, absolutely flabbergasted. “No way! I can’t believe you’re a superhero! I always knew you were hiding something under all that tough guy attitude!”

“I am _not_ a superhero, Joe.” the wallcrawler immediately denied. He looked over to Silvia, who was giggling at the sight of him. “The fuck is so funny?!”

“I’m sorry…” Silvia apologized after wiping a tear from her eye. “It’s just… that suit! It’s hilarious!”

“God, I know.” Scarlet Spider agreed with a groan, slightly tugging at his suit. “I hate it.”

Joe’s mouth gaped open, “You guys serious?! That suit is so awesome!”

“Kaine, you drive.” Katrina called and tossed his keys toward the webslinger. “I don’t have a license and I’d rather not get arrested.”

“It’s cool, I don’t have a license either.” Scarlet Spider said as he stepped into the driver’s seat, chuckling slightly at Silvia’s sudden outburst at the revelation of his lack of a license. He removed his mask and laid it down on his dashboard, not at all caring anymore since his friends practically found out his identity just by hearing his voice.

Katrina, Joe and Silvia piled into the car and the demon huntress turned back briefly to ask if the couple were okay. Kaine squinted into rearview mirror, spotting the faint image of smoke from a far off location. He presumed it was another nearby city and he was brought out of it when Silvia suddenly explained the situation after looking over a news report on her phone. She said that San Francisco has been under attack by a strange horde of creatures that could crawl on walls and infect other people with strange black ooze.

Kaine took a moment to consider going down into the city to put a stop to the threat, but he was having some slight trouble. For starters, he was hungry and feeling rather lazy. But the tiny voice in the back of his head urged him to be heroic again and he cursed mentally as he always seemed to follow what the tiny voice says. “That’s where I’m going then, I guess.”

“What?!” Silvia blurted out, moving forward from her seat. “You can’t, it’s way too dangerous!”

“That is true. And I could die. But eh, fuck it, I'm still doing it, I guess.” was all the brunette said in response, slightly confusing the light blonde haired girl.

Joe eased his girlfriend back into her seat and hooked his arm around her neck. “It’s all good, Sil! Kaine’s a superhero, he can handle it!”

“I am _NOT_ a goddamn shit twinkle toed superhero!”

“Kaine.” Katrina said calmly, catching her friend’s attention. “Before we go, we have to pick up Patty and head over to the office we stay at.”

Kaine cleared his throat and adjusted himself in his seat. “Right, right. Tell her we’re on our way.” he started up the car and drove out of the parking lot as quickly as he could.

\---

“EAT IT FREAK BAG!” a S.H.I.E.L.D. soldier exclaimed in a rough voice as he drove his combat knife into the throat of a symbiote. He shoved the creature away and picked up his minigun again, spinning the barrel and emptying hundreds of bullets into the incoming horde of symbiotes. “These bastards just don’t know when to give up!” he shouted and dropped his emptied minigun, brandishing an M16 assault rifle instead.

“Down _cyka_!” another soldier shouted in a deep Russian accent as he fired off his Saiga-12 automatic shotgun into the chest of a symbiote. He looked around their area and noticed they were completely closed off by the enemy. “Son of bitch, we got nowhere to go!”

A third soldier sliced through a symbiote with a katana blade before producing a handgun to fire off a few shots into any of their enemy that had gotten too close. “Then let us go down standing up!” he said nobly with his blade raised, he spoke in a noticeable Japanese accent.

“I hope you motherless maggot addicts choke on my bullets then!” the American soldier roared with all his might as he continued his attack on the symbiotes.

The three soldiers suddenly saw a rain of bullets tear through the horde that closed in on them. The symbiotes began to pull back away from the attack and retreated deeper into the city, with the three looking behind them to see multiple Quinjets landing behind them.

“That was convenient, _da_?” the Russian asked his brothers-in-arms with a shrug.

“Let us not waste this opportunity…” the Japanese said as he returned his blade in its sheathe. “Begin loading up the bodies of our fallen.”

The Quinjets’ hatches opened up and more reinforcements poured out. Some medical units assisted the three survivors with carrying the soldiers who had died into the jets. They noticed a large white creature that much resembled their enemy and they raised their weapons.

“The _fuck_ is that thing doing here?” the American demanded with his assault rifle raised at Anti-Venom, who didn’t look too bothered.

“ _Here to help._ ”

The Russian scoffed and glanced at his comrades for a moment, “You must be kidding.”

Lady and Trish walked in front of Anti-Venom with slightly peeved expressions and upon noticing who the two women were, the three soldiers immediately saluted. “Oh fuck.” the American stumbled over his words and held his salute tight. “You two are Agent Viper’s friends, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” Trish confirmed and rolled her eyes at their salutes. “Put your god damn hands down, we’re not even part of your chain of command.”

“Aw, you shouldn’t have said that!” Deadpool whispered to the demoness, “Imagine having all these losers do our bidding!”

She promptly ignored her friend and crossed her arms, still glaring at the three soldiers before her.

“We apologize for the disrespect.” the Japanese soldier said and placed his arms behind him. “I am Captain Zero Masaki, these are my comrades…” he gestured to the American. “Corporal Gage Dempsey…” then to the Russian. “And Sergeant Viktor Belisnki. We were leading an assault onto the source of this infection, but once we had located the source, Mac Gargan, he went berserk and pushed me and my men all the way back here.”

“Yeah… son of a bitch killed a lot of our guys.” Dempsey muttered as he glanced over briefly at the bodies of his late comrades being draped over with white sheets.

Lady jabbed the American’s arm lightly. “Don’t worry, we got you guys covered!” she turned around to the rest of her team, who were impatiently waiting to step into the action. “You all ready or what?”

“Let’s get this party started.” Dante said with a smirk as he cracked his knuckles.

Deadpool shot his friend a thumbs up, “Another cool line here!”

Trish shrugged her shoulders, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Wait, how do you all plan on finding this Gargan?” Belinski questioned curiously.

“ _As the previous host of the Venom symbiote… I still have some slight connection to it._ ” Anti-Venom explained, his yellow eye slits slightly flashing red for a moment. “ _And I know exactly where Gargan is… I shall cleanse the Venom that infects this land_.”

“We will provide support for you then.” Masaki offered and rested his palm on the hilt of his katana.

“Hell yeah!” Dempsey cheered and raised his rifle up. “My bones achin’ for another crack at those maggot ass nasty squags!”

“I am in too, since y'know, I have nothing else to do.” Belinski said casually.

Dante chuckled at the enthusiasm of these three, they were much better than any other soldier he had met before. “Alright then... let’s show these bastards what we’re made of!”

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: tony masters, the taskmaster, from the avengers series.


	22. The Harder They Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle begins as the Devil May Cry team face off against the hordes of symbiotes that had overrun the city.

Anti-Venom swung from a webline and sped right through a group of symbiotes, knocking them in multiple directions. He released himself from the line and bellowed out as he drove a heavy fist right through the chest of another symbiote. His fangs formed into a crooked smile after looking over his handiwork and he looked back up, the glowing slits that were his eyes darting around the area. After kneeling down and going silent, he focused on his one and only goal: find Venom and end his reign of terror once and for all. With his mind focused again, he felt exactly where his target was and he stood up to his two feet with his fists clenched.

A couple of symbiote corpses were flung past his direction behind him, one of them vibrating violently from electricity and another was riddled with gunshots. Anti-Venom turned his head back for a moment to see Trish and Dante catching up to him, while Deadpool and Lady were both preoccupied with stomping in a symbiote’s head. “Where to now, tiny?” asked the white haired demon hunter as he holstered Ebony and Ivory behind him.

“ _Around this corner is where we will find that villain._ ” Anti-Venom answered, pointing a sharp finger in the direction. “ _But the energy Venom is giving off is strange. It wasn’t like this a moment ago._ ”

“Probably shitting himself.” Deadpool chimed in, grinning beneath his mask. “I wonder if shit stains are hard to get off of those creepy goop aliens you guys wear.”

The team noticed one of the soldiers, Dempsey, was jogging towards them. “We’ll hold down this position here for now.” He informed them before looking back into a device that emitted a holographic screen. “The readings we’re getting are off the damn charts! Just what the hell is going on in there with those freak bags?”

The ground beneath them began shaking, not enough to throw them off their feet but enough to catch everyone’s attention. “Must be a pretty violent shit.” the Merc with the Mouth snickered.

“Is it an earthquake?” Trish asked with her eyes narrowed.

“ _No…_ ” Anti-Venom growled and shot a webline at the side of a building. “ _Footsteps._ ” He pulled himself up and swung quickly towards the direction he had pointed out before, wasting no time to find whatever was causing the ground to rumble.

Before the others could even call out to their ally, they saw another horde of symbiotes pouring into the streets and rushing them. There were multiple, larger and red colored symbiotes amongst them that caught the attention of the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers behind the Devil May Cry team.

“We got Berserkers in the horde of Skeletons incoming!” Dempsey shouted out to the others while he readied his minigun.

“Vultures spotted, 12 o'clock high!” Another soldier called when winged white and purple symbiotes bursted from the sides of skyscrapers and flew down towards the heroes.

“Shit! And our 6!” A third soldier screamed and he began firing his weapon wildly behind him. Another group of Vulture symbiotes ambushed the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers from behind and began swooping up various operatives from their feet.

“These freaks really think they can box us in, huh?.” Dante growled under his breath, his hand releasing the hilt of Rebellion. As his blade suddenly phased away, two flaming demonic gauntlets formed around his two hands. The Devil Arm Ifrit glew with hellfire as Dante punched his two fists together and a red hot smirk formed on his lips. “Now I’m really heated. Let’s do this!”

Deadpool slid a mini flamethrower attachment on the bottom of his M4 carbine and stood beside his friend. “Right behind you, brother! Let’s barbecue these aliens fuck heads!”

The two red clad men let out battle cries and dashed towards the incoming pack of symbiotes. Dante threw his arm back and then struck Ifrit against the face of a large Berserker symbiote, completely reducing it into ash and flaming sparks. “Adios, you big mouthed freak!” He said with a devilish smile and drove a couple more flaming swings into the other symbiotes that attempted to pounce him. The half demon punched down on the ground and created a burst of volcanic hellfire that spewed around him causing any symbiote caught with the flames to melt away in seconds.

The mercenary aimed up his carbine and held his hand over the trigger of his mini flamethrower. After Dante flipped over to another spot to continue his hellfire barrage, Deadpool released the flames from his attachment. A long stream of fire caught dozens of symbiotes and the merc let out a loud manic cackle as he melted the creatures into dust. “Toasty~!”

“Let ‘er rip!” Dante punched both of his fists through the chest of a Berserker symbiote and ripped the creature in two burning pieces. A rocket flew into the horde and exploded into a mass of flames that ripped the creatures apart. He turned back to see Lady holding a smoking Kalina Ann from atop a turned over car. She gave him a small two fingered salute before turning her attention back to the Vultures flying over her.

Lady heaved up Kalina Ann upwards and fired her homing rockets at the symbiotes above her. “These are restricted airs!” She laughed as each of her rocket found a target and blew them apart in pieces in the air.

Trish swung down the Sword of Sparda and sliced a Berserker demon in half. She brought her leg up and kicked the top half towards the other symbiotes before holding out her free hand to fire a burst of lighting into the creatures. “We have to catch up with Anti-Venom.” She said and sidestepped a symbiote that swiped its claws at her. She grabbed its head with both of her hands and channeled electricity into its head until it popped like a balloon. She wiped away the bits of ooze on her arms with a grimace before returning to talking. “Those footsteps he mentioned are really worrying me.”

“Eh, what’s the worse it could be?” Deadpool shrugged as he shoved an incendiary grenade into the jaws of a symbiote. He kicked the creature away and allowed it to burn from the inside on the floor.

Dante swung another fist into the jaw of a symbiote and flung it away. He was about to continue his beatdown on the horde until the incoming creatures suddenly stopped in place. “The hell?” He wondered aloud with a raised brow. The symbiotes were just a few paces away from their position and they had been doing a rather excellent job holding them back, but for reasons unknown they all just stopped. The footsteps sounded much closer now and they heard a distant shouting that slowly got closer and closer.

The team backpedaled a bit when Anti-Venom crashed back down on his back right in front of them. He was groaning as Deadpool went down to help him up to his feet. “What the shit happened to you, Brock?”

Anti-Venom felt an intense ringing in his head as he held his hand over it. “ _Gargan…_ ” He mumbled through his fangs.

“What?” The mercenary was a bit confused, until Lady tugged at his katana straps. “What?” He asked her and noticed her strange expression, then looked up to see what she was gazing at. “ _What._ ” He deadpanned at what he saw.

A gigantic symbiote nearly the size of the buildings that surrounded it dragged itself slowly towards the team, its body nearly taking up most of the streets. It had no legs from the looks of it, only large clawed arms that it used to drag itself forward. Multiple smaller heads were lined around a much larger, main head. These heads resembled Venom’s own and countless large tendrils swung wildly across its oozing black. The creature barred its multiple fangs at the heroes and let out a earth shattering roar, which was followed by shouting and thrashing of the horde of smaller symbiotes below it.

Trish frowned a bit at the sight of their new adversary. “Huh... I think that might be a problem.”

“Oh great...” Lady mumbled sarcastically. “Can we go home now?”

“Heh. I was saying the same thing earlier but now after seeing this guy…” Dante grinned and pounded Ifrit together. “This party’s really gettin’ crazy now.”

“I swear he said that on the toilet once…” Deadpool commented quietly with a frown. He turned over to you for a moment, "You probably wonder what Kat's doing, right? Well--"

\---

Somewhere a bit far off, a car full of teenagers were struck in traffic. “I _swear_ this was the fastest way.” Kaine defended after seeing the cold look Bulleta gave him. _Why the fuck is she accusing me anyway? I’m not the one who suddenly came in with a shitload of guns and made Joe nearly shit himself!_

“Why are we going into the city full of crazy aliens anyway?!” Silvia demanded for the umpteenth time, still expecting a proper answer instead of Kaine simply going ‘dunno.’

Kaine’s hands gripped on the steering wheel. “The real question is why is there fucking traffic going on in the highway that goes _toward_ the city full of crazy fuck aliens?!” He rolled down his window and honked his horn while shouting at the cars in front of him.

“It’s because we get to see Kaine kick some butt as a superhero!” Joe said cheerfully, not noticing Kaine immediately turn back to him with his mouth opened ready to deny his friend again.

“I don’t think we’re going anywhere, since there are no people in the cars around us…” pointed out Patty calmly after one simple look at the car next to them.

Kaine went silent for a moment and did notice that there was no people inside the vehicles in front of him. He vaguely remembered people ditching their cars to run the opposite away from the city. “THEN HOW THE FUCK DO WE GET OUT OF THIS SHIT!?” He screamed at the top of his lungs, having lost all of his patience.

Bulleta slumped in her seat and dragged her palm across her face. She had completely geared up and was ready to back up her friends, but here she was stuck in traffic with a ‘superhero’ with immense anger issues, a couple that constantly bickered, and Patty. _This is gonna be a long fucking day..._

\---

A soldier watched as two of her comrades next to her were mauled by the symbiotes. “Sector is not secure! I repeat--” She was cut off when another symbiote leaped towards her and began tearing at her armor.

Belinski kicked off the symbiote on the soldier and finished it off with his shotgun. He knelt down to examine the soldier’s wounds and cursed loudly in Russian. “We need medic here!” He called over and stood up again, holding off the creatures.

“Pull back! We gotta pull back!” Another operative said with a shout as he dropped his emptied rifle.

Dempsey tossed the hopeless soldier another weapon and nodded to him. “We can do this! We’re holding this line!” He assured and spun up his minigun and fired another wave of bullets into their enemy.

“I want air support now!” Masaki ordered over his communicator. He turned back briefly and pointed to a squadron of soldiers that were setting down mortars. “All mortar squads, thin out the hordes!”

“What about that gigantic mother of all flesh addicts down there?!” Dempsey questioned as he carelessly threw his emptied weapon at a symbiote and picked up an assault rifle to resume his firing.

Masaki unsheathed his katana and sliced through a Berserker symbiote’s chest. “Our new allies are more than capable of dealing with the new foe.”

Further down the streets the team were taking out any symbiote they could. Deadpool was tackled by a symbiote and he struggled trying to pry the beast off of him. It tried slashing its claws at him and attempted to take several bites at his head, which he was quick to avoid. “You need a breath mint, how about this?!” He pushed his handgun to its lower jaw and fired multiple shots. The mercenary pushed himself back up to his feet and returned using his flamethrower to fend off the beasts.

Lady used Kalina Ann’s bayonet to slice apart two symbiotes in front of her then aimed the weapon down and fired a rocket directly into another incoming group. “Someone’s gonna need to take care of that big guy!” She called out and grit her teeth before stabbing the bayonet again right through a symbiote. “He’s making more of these fuckers faster than we can put them down!”

“Damn, she’s right.” Dante said after noticing the massive Venom further down was dropping large puddles of ooze that formed into more symbiotic creatures to add on to the already numerous ranks. “Hey tiny!” He called over to Anti-Venom who had just finished ripped a symbiote in two. “How’s your throwing arm?”

Anti-Venom glanced over at the devil hunter then towards their main target and simply showed a jagged smile. He grabbed the half demon with both hands and spun a few times to gain speed. The heroic symbiote let out a roar as he chucked Dante right towards Venom.

Dante prepared Ifrit with his right fist as he came closer and closer to Venom, who noticed him flying towards him. “Time to get up close and personal!” The half demon said and swung a hellfire fueled fist right in the center of Venom’s main head. The large symbiote bellowed out as the flaming punch sent it toppling over backwards. Dante spotted the other smaller heads shooting in his direction and he was quick to send a flurry of fiery swings to knock them all off course. One had apparently gotten lucky and struck the demon hunter away back down below to the streets.

In an instance, Deadpool teleported into the air and caught his friend before teleporting back onto the ground safely. The two landed in a tumble but had to quickly collect themselves as the ground symbiotes took notice to them and placed their attention on the two. The Merc with the Mouth raised up his flamethrower and smiled, “Oh no you don’t!” His smile faltered when pulling the trigger yielded to nothing but the flamethrower emitting a noise that sounded too much like a fart. “Out of fuel?! That sure _fuels_ my rage!”

An demonic spell was casted around the two and electrocuted any symbiote that got too close. Trish jumped in alongside Lady and fought off the beasts with their weapons. The demoness brandished the Sword of Sparda and transformed it into a scythe-like form, then flung it into the horde like a boomerang. The Sparda cut down many of the surrounding creatures and gave Dante and Deadpool enough time to regroup with their friends.

“Next time don’t forget this!” Lady scolded as she tossed over extra mini fuel cans over to Deadpool for his flamethrower.

“You think that punch did it?” asked Trish as she caught the Sparda back in her hands, looking over at the monstrous Venom that laid about the street.

Anti-Venom swung in and landed on top of a car, his glowing eyes narrowed hard. “ _Not even close, I’m afraid._ ” He said and the group saw Venom slowly pulling himself up with his two arms. “ _If I’m right, Gargan is within that monstrosity and to defeat it we must take him out of it first._ ”

“So someone just has to get eaten by Venomzilla over here and pull out that loser?” Deadpool questioned. “Wow, sucks for whoever has to do that crap.”

“Let’s just rip right through him then!” Lady said and ran off with her rocket launcher ready.

Trish sighed and readied Sparda, “We’ll lay down the heat on him while one of you try and get close enough to pull Gargan out.” She quickly followed Lady after speaking.

“ _I’ll make my way above Venom and attempt to weaken the giant housing him with my powers._ ” Anti-Venom added while shooting a webline to a building. “ _You two must take Gargan quick, I don’t know how long I can keep up ‘curing’ the beast, especially one of this size._ ” He extended out his other hand to the two men to signal them to grab on.

“Wonder-fucking-ful. _We’re_ the ones who has to do that crap.” Deadpool sighed and held onto the shoulder of Anti-Venom.

Dante shrugged and Ifrit disappeared from his hands, with Rebellion phasing in again behind him. He grabbed Anti-Venom’s arm and nodded to him. The heroic symbiote launched himself off the ground with the two holding on as he made his way towards Venom, who had already gotten himself back to his dragging position.

Lady fired a burst of homing rockets directly at the Venom heads, blowing apart a few of them and temporarily dazing the beast entirely. Trish stepped in after dealing with the symbiotes around them and held up her two handguns, firing lighting charged bullets at Venom’s main head. “What the hell are those three doing?” She asked aloud after spotting her allies swinging through the air.

“Taking all the credit, probably.” The demon huntress scoffed and was brought out of it when more symbiotes sprang from all around them. She and the demoness returned to fighting the creatures on the ground in an instant.

Anti-Venom released himself from the webline and landed on the neck of the giant Venom. “ _I will purge you from this world, devil!_ ” He roared and drove his claws into the black ooze, resulting in Venom roaring in pain as smoke blasted from the wounds Anti-Venom inflicted. “ _Go! Cut your way through and find Gargan!_ ” He told Dante and Deadpool with a pained voice.

“Don’t mind if I do!” The Merc with the Mouth said and pulled out his double katanas. He began chopping away at the base of the ooze while Dante did the same with Rebellion. Their efforts eventually ended into nothing and they noticed this in seconds. Symbiotes began spawning from the back they were situated at and attacked the two red mercenaries.

Dante didn’t even have time to use Ifrit as a Berserker symbiote tackled him off Venom and down into the streets. Before Deadpool could even react to that he was forced to block off claw swipes from multiple symbiotes with only his katanas. “Just because people mistaken me for Spider-Man doesn’t mean you fucks have to attack me too!” He dodged another set of attacks and resumed fighting.

Venom had enough with the attacks coming from every angle and swiped at the two women on the ground while shifting his back to go towards a building. Trish used Sparda to slice apart the fingers that nearly grabbed her but she saw Lady wasn’t so lucky. “NO!” The demoness screamed out when she saw the raven haired devil hunter grabbed up by one of Venom’s massive hands. “LET HER GO!” She screamed and fired multiple bursts of electricity at the arm, but in her panic she ended up missing her shots.

“Oh shit, oh shit, _oh shit!_ ” Lady cursed repeatedly when the hand released her, causing her to end up in free fall towards the large jaws of Venom. She thrashed around in the air and shouted, unable to close her eyes at her incoming doom.

Trish watched in horror as Lady disappeared inside the jaws of Venom. “M-Mary…” She said silently, feeling her limbs go heavy as she fell to her knees. Venom crushed its back against the side of the building and she saw the last image of Deadpool and Anti-Venom panicking before being clouded from smoke and debris.

It felt like hours passed by until the demoness noticed the sound of an explosion erupting from within Venom’s chest. Her eyes widened when the body of the massive symbiote ripped apart alongside a fiery explosion. Her horrified expression was quickly replaced with instant surprise when she saw Lady jumping out of the explosion with Kalina Ann held high in one hand and the body of another symbiote in another.

“NOBODY CAN FUCKING EAT ME EXCEPT TRISH!” the devil huntress screamed out from the top of her lungs. She turned around in midair and fired another rocket at the large Venom again, sending it toppling over back to the ground. The raven haired woman gripped hard on the body she was holding, which turned out to be the real Venom, and set down her feet on his chest. She used his body to give herself a soft landing while the symbiote took most of the hard landing. “You hear me?!” She shouted at the downed Venom and drove Kalina Ann’s bayonet through his back. “NO ONE!”

Trish ran over to Lady and grasped her in a tight hug, even spinning her around once. “I thought I lost you!” The demoness said, nearly in tears.

“Ah, I thought I was done for too!” The demon huntress admitted with a slight smile. “But no fucking freak from outer space is gonna take me away from you!”

They hugged tighter again, until Trish slightly pulled back a bit and grimaced at the black ooze that stained her clothes. She hadn’t even noticed Lady was nearly covered head to toe in the oil-like substance. “We’re taking a shower after this…”

A piece of rubble being thrown alerted the two and they resumed into fighting stances, until it only turned out to be Dante who had been slightly buried after falling through a stand from such a height. “Just don’t use my towels…” He mumbled while holding onto his head. “Where’s Wade and Brock?”

Elsewhere, in the building that the giant Venom had crashed its back to, Deadpool and Anti-Venom were collecting themselves. They had managed to jump into the building itself before being crushed. “Yo, look at that Brock!” The mercenary said and pointed down where his friends were. “Looks like they got Gargan out of Venomzilla!”

“ _Good._ ” Anti-Venom said in a low voice, he was weakened from using his healing powers to cut through the symbiote. “ _Let’s finish this._ ”

Deadpool cackled and bounced up to his feet like a child. “I want every man and woman (and hopefully no children) to aim their weapons and send that big ol’ alien bastard back to Mars!” He said into his communicator.

“You heard the man!” Dempsey said aloud after receiving the signal. Dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers and Quinjets surrounded the weakened giant Venom and prepared to fire their weapons.

Belinski chuckled at the sight of every weapon ready to finish off the beast. “Oh this will be good!”

Masaki stood up atop a pile of rubble and pointed his katana at their final enemy. “All units, fire!”

Rockets, bullets, streams of flames and explosives of all kind were fired directly at the monster repeatedly. Dante, Trish and Lady joined in and fired their weapons at the Venom creature and with the combined effort of all the forces the beast was quickly put down and it hit the ground hard after letting out one final roar of pain. Deadpool cheered from the broken window he was situated at and gave Anti-Venom a high five.

After the battle was over, squads of S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers were tasked with destroying any other symbiote pod before it had the chance to spawn more creatures. Another set of squads had the objective of finding survivors who have been trapped in similar pods, many being civilians, soldiers, police officers and other various people.

Mac Gargan groaned as he sat up from the ground, he held his hand over his head and felt something was wrong: he wasn’t wearing the Venom symbiote. The criminal nearly panicked until the barrel of a submachine gun was pressed up against his head.

“Don’t move.” Lady ordered coldly and kicked the criminal back down to with her boot. She kept her Skorpion submachine gun trained on him as her other friends gathered around.

“W-What the hell happened to my suit?!” Gargan demanded, his eyes darting around until finally landing on his beloved Venom symbiote was trapped in a holding device held by a S.H.I.E.L.D. soldier who was walking away.

“ _Your reign is over, devil._ ” Anti-Venom growled and folded his arms together. “ _Be thankful I didn’t outright destroy your symbiote._ ”

“Thankful?” Gargan echoed and began chuckling. “You must be an idiot, Brock! In a couple months I’ll be out of prison and back on the streets!” His expression grew dark and his smile was manic. “And I won’t stop at nothing to--” A bullet fired right his stomach and he made a pained noise upon realizing what had happened. Another few bullets whizzed right through his chest and finally into his head, each of his wounds began gushing out blood that quickly formed into a large puddle underneath Gargan’s corpse.

Everyone looked over at Deadpool who had apparently took Lady’s weapon from her hands and finished off the criminal. “What?” He asked upon seeing the looks his friends gave him. “He was droning on!” He defended and tossed the Skorpion back to the demon huntress. “And people say _I_ talk too much.”

“You kind of do.” Trish said while pinching the bridge of her nose, not at all caring that her friend just outright murdered someone (though nobody in the Devil May Cry team seemed to ever care.) “Let’s just go home, I wanna wash all this shit off me.”

“You said it.” agreed Lady in a dull tone and hung her arm around the demoness’ neck as they both walked away together.

“Ugh, we might as well get an actual house.” Dante said to Deadpool. “6 people living in an office with only one bathroom and two bedrooms is just a mess.”

“Not as much of a mess as your hair, skippy!” The mercenary laughed and nudged his friend with his elbow. “But you do got a point. Maybe we should do that soon!”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” The half demon looked over at Anti-Venom, “What about you, tiny? Wanna come by and have a few drinks?”

Anti-Venom waved his hand in response, “ _Maybe another time. I’ll have to work with S.H.I.E.L.D. here to clean up the mess Gargan left behind._ ” He nodded towards the two, “ _Your help was appreciated. I’m sure we couldn’t have done this without any of you._ ”

“Yeaaah, that’s true.” Dante said smugly and began walking off, forming a lazy peace sign with his hand for his friend. “Later buddy.”

Deadpool shot a thumbs up at his friend before running to catch up with Dante. “Seeya Brock!”

Anti-Venom watched as the Devil May Cry team boarded their Quinjet and flew off from the city. “ _An interesting bunch._ ” He said to himself with an amused chuckle before returning his attention to the three soldiers that called to him.

“Looks like we got ourselves some unmarked soldiers.” Dempsey explained as he pulled the body of a operative donned in unrecognizable combat gear. Anti-Venom approached the unmarked soldier and held a hand over their chest, scanning for any damage.

“ _Barely alive…_ ” The heroic symbiote noted and lifted the soldier’s gasmask, revealing an out cold, but still rugged looking man. He sensed something strange and opened the man’s mouth, spotting a wobbling tooth that barely hung from the gums.

“Jeez, atleast wear gloves.” Belinski said with a frown beneath his own gasmask. “Is just tooth though, so what?”

“ _Not just any tooth…_ ” Anti-Venom pulled the tooth and examined it thoroughly. He crushed it in between his fingers and it became a more dust like quality . “ _A suicide capsule disguised as a tooth._ ”

“That sounds alot like what those fake S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers used back at that museum…” Dempsey said to his comrades.

“ _Da._ ” Belinski agreed and looked over to Masaki. “Could this man be…?”

The captain stood up to his feet, “Take this man and any other unmarked soldiers to the med-bay like the rest. Remove their suicide capsules as well. We have many questions waiting for these operatives once they arise from their slumber…”

\---

Meanwhile, Kaine laid his head down in his steering wheel as a Quinjet landed in front of his car. “The one time I get off my ass to finally do some good, I end up getting stuck in traffic and missing out on it.” He muttered and raised himself back up, “Fuck it. More sleep for me then.”

Bulleta rolled her eyes and opened the car door, waving over at her friends who had came in to pick her and her own friends up. “Let’s get outta here, guys.” She said, with Joe, Silvie and Patty happy to oblige while Kaine lazily got out of his car in the slowest manner possible.

**To Be Continued...**


	23. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is her story.

It was a rather quiet house, with the only sound being the wooden floorboards that squeaked with each step taken. The white haired half demon rested his coat on the coat rack, not at all noticing what he had been doing seemed strangely familiar. He knew he wasn’t in the Devil May Cry office, but somewhere that has been gone a long time ago.

“Dante!” A soft voice called his name and he tensed up. The voice was all too familiar.

“Yes mama?” Another familiar voice spoke up and the demon hunter watched as a small white haired boy run past him and into the kitchen where the voice of the woman called.

“Go and get your brother, I have a surprise for you both!”

Dante watched silently as the child giggled and run back to a hallway calling for his brother. “Vergil! Vergil!”

The half demon walked a few steps further, then stopped in place upon seeing the woman. Her face was obstructed by an opened cabinet but he remembered those arms that held her when he was a child. He remembered how her hands were not soft, but very rough from all the demon hunting she had done in the past before finally settling down with, surprisingly, a demon.

He turned his head back to see two twin boys emerging from the hallway, the one dressed in a blue shirt though looked as if he had just woken up. “Taking another nap again, Vergil?” The woman asked with a light laugh and the boy rubbed at his eyes and nodded.

“Vergil takes lots of naps! That’s why he always has so much energy, right bro?” The red shirt wearing boy asked his twin with a wide smile.

“You bet, brother.” The other child agreed, speaking in a more mellow tone compared to his more loud twin. “I’m gonna be the strongest hero in the world, like the ones we read about in our books.”

“My brother’s already the strongest!”

“My brother’s already the strongest.” Dante said, or more so repeated at the same instance the child did.

“Both of my boys are strong.” The woman hummed and she pulled out a cake from the fridge. It was half strawberry and half chocolate. It had four blue and red candles on it and the names _‘Dante’_ and _‘Vergil’_ written on it with red and blue respectively. “Here’s your surprise, boys!”

“Woooow!” The boy in the red shirt said in awe. “You never told us you were gonna get us a cake!”

“Looks yummy, mama.” The blue wearing twin said to his mother with a light smile.

“Dante, Vergil…” The woman’s face was now not obstructed by view and she knelt down to face her twin boys with the cake. “Happy birthday. I love you both so much.”

“We love you too mama!” The twins said in unison and they both hugged their mother.

Dante had already turned around once the woman showed herself, not letting himself see her face. He walked off towards the door as the happy family continue to laugh together. After grabbing his coat, he heard one final familiar voice before leaving.

“Eva? Are the boys there?” A man asked from down the hall. “Wait till you see what I got them for their birthdays!”

“Yes Sparda, come down quick so we can watch them blow out the candles!”

His ice blue eyes opened up, not at all focused on anything in particular. He blinked slowly once or twice and didn’t even get up from the couch he laid on. He took too much naps, passing it off as laziness to his friends when it was something a bit more than that. The double doors opened up and he slightly shifted his head over to see Patty closing the doors quietly.

“O-Oh. Sorry, Dante, did I wake you up?” She stuttered an apology. He wasn’t quick to answer her and only stared at the girl with an unreadable expression.

Patty gripped the end of her dress and nodded awkwardly after not receiving an answer. She carefully made her way through the living room, her hands lightly grabbing a hold the sides of the pool table for balance. Dante continued to watch the girl, who was walking as if she was drunk but attempting to control it and look as normal as possible.

After the flaxen haired girl had made it out of his sight and into the kitchen, he slowly shifted up from the couch and rubbed his face with both hands. He lowered his left hand to see the long scar on across his palm he had received a few years back. The image of his twin brother falling backwards into the dark abyss briefly flashed in his eyes and he kept silent. The half demon casted aside the thoughts and returned to the real matter at hand.

“Whoever you are, I’m gonna give you a minute to get the hell out of her body.”

Patty froze up, her hands gripping hard on the milkshake she had taken from the fridge. She didn’t even have to see Dante and she was already frozen in fear. “W-What are you talking about, Dante?”

“40 seconds.” Dante said, he was speaking in a low and serious tone.

“What…?”

The half demon stood up from the couch and turned around to face the girl that was staring back at him with wide eyes. “20 seconds.” He reminded again, his ice blue eyes were distant and he pointed Ivory at her. He knew this wasn’t Patty from the moment she came in. After all, Patty’s eyes are blue, not red.

“P-Patty…” The girl whispered after a beat, as if she was saying it to someone else. “Patty, I-I…”

“10 seconds.”

“Dante, wait!” Patty spoke up, holding up her hands.

Despite his cold look staying in place, he knew this was his friend talking now. “You alright in there, Patty?”

“Yes I am, I swear! Please, just don’t hurt her!” Patty pleaded, her eyes were her usual blue again. “We can explain everything!”

The half demon’s eyes narrowed and he slowly put down his handgun. “We?” He echoed with a silver brow raised. “You’re saying you _let_ her in your body?’”

Patty set down the milkshake and slowly approached her friend, her hands still raised. “Dante, just put the gun away and sit down… please.”

He wasn’t all convinced but he slowly returned to his seat, keeping Ivory near him on the armrest. He couldn’t take any chances. If anything, he can stall until the others get here to help him out. “Alright, I’m seated.”

“Thank you...” Patty said with a sigh of relief. She felt as if she was about to burst into tears, but that wasn’t her feeling emotional. She sat next to the half demon, feeling very small under his cold glare that he had never given her before.

**_He’s not giving it to you, he’s giving it to me…_ **

_It’s okay, trust me. We can do this together._

**_I-I hope so, Patty._ **

“Start talking.” Dante’s voice interrupted her out of her thoughts. “Who the hell is in there and is she dangerous?”

“No, she’s not at all dangerous…” Patty denied with her brows furrowed. “She’s just… lost. And sad, I… I had to do something.”

The demon hunter had a serious expression fall on him. “Letting yourself get possessed isn’t a laughing matter, Patty.” It was so strange hearing him actually say her name, usually he chose to use ‘kid’ or ‘kiddo.’

The eyes went from blue to red and Dante’s fingers twitched over his handgun at the sight of it. “She didn’t ask for it, it was an accident!” The other one explained, though she spoke in the same voice as Patty, the way she put together her words, tone and body language was much more different.

“How do you just _accidentally_ possess someone?” Dante questioned, his glare further growing colder the more time passed. “The hell do you want with Patty, huh?”

“I…” Red eyes returned to blue eyes, along with tone and body language of the real girl. “She just wanted to show me something.”

“Start from the beginning. Both of you.”

Patty nodded meekly and rubbed her hands together, “Okay, okay…”

\---

“I-I don’t know…” Felicia stuttered with a worried frown.

“You don’t have to lie to me anymore, Felicia…” Patty assured softly. “Only I can see you… only I can talk to you…” She rested her hand on the other girl’s and this time Felicia didn’t pull away. “I know you’re a spirit but… it looks like I’m really the only one who can hold you.” She looked at the girl, expecting her to meet her eyes. “Why is that?”

“Maybe because…” Felicia began and faced the flaxen haired girl. “You refused to forget about me.”

Patty frowned and held both of her hands over Felicia’s. Her hand felt so cold to touch, almost freezing. “I would never.”

“Then… I have no reason not to trust you then, right?” The dark haired girl said with a slight nervous laugh that sounded a bit hollow. She removed her sunglasses, revealing her empty, iris-less eyes. She was surprised Patty wasn’t at all taken back by the sight and only offered her unforgettable warm smile. “Where should I start…?”

“Wherever you feel comfortable.” Patty said with a slight shrug. “We have all day.”

“I would have to, um… enter your mind to properly show you everything.” Felicia explained, looking back downwards.

Patty thought about it for a moment, but this girl was her friend and if it were to help she’d be glad to do anything for her. “Okay then, how does that work?”

“J-Just… close your eyes.” Felicia said quietly and the flaxen haired girl was quick to oblige. She took in a deep breath and closed hers as well, then became more transparent before phasing into Patty’s body.

Patty immediately shivered and felt her two hands drop when Felicia’s hand suddenly disappeared. “Felicia?” She asked, her eyes still closed.

**_It’s okay, I’m still here._ **

“Oh hello!”

**_Hello… um, are you ready?_ **

“I am.”

_**From as far as I can remember, I was just a normal girl… mostly.** _

Patty opened her eyes to see Felicia standing in front of a mirror, they were in a bathroom of some sorts. Though the Felicia that stood in the mirror looked much more alive and had scarlet colored eyes and long black hair. “Is that you?” Patty asked and the ghost Felicia appeared beside her, the one she had known.

“It is… when I was, well, alive. Like I said, mostly normal, other than… “

There was a muffled grumbling from a gruff voice and the past Felicia hid her black hair over a white hat. She checked her phone and rushed out of the bathroom.

“Let’s just say, I was kind of possessed by something too.”

Patty and Felicia found themselves in a classroom this time. This time, Patty noticed Katrina taking a seat in the corner seat. “Katrina…?” The flaxen haired girl said and looked over to Felicia, who had an empty looking expression now. Patty looked back to Katrina and noted she looked slightly different, her hair was much more shorter and her attitude towards the other students was rather rude as she constantly knocked their things out of the way carelessly when she made her way to her seat.

“But, what does this have to do with…” Patty trailed off to see Felicia again, the past one. The dark haired girl looked around for a seat and found the last empty seat next to Katrina.

While Patty was busy looking over at the two girls conversing and even lightly flirt, the ghost Felicia felt increasing amounts of sadness come across her each second that passed. “L-Let’s move on…” She said as the scene suddenly changed to show the past Felicia and Katrina hugging tightly and sharing milkshakes. Her empty eyes noticed Patty looked a bit jealous at the sight but held it in.

“Hey, that’s Joe and Silvia!” The flaxen haired girl pointed out, seeing her two friends in this scene greet Katrina and Felicia. “You knew them too?”

“Y-Yeah...” Felicia nodded, lowering her head a bit. “They were nice… they all were.”

The scene around them changed to the past Felicia and Katrina entering an apartment, which slightly confused Patty. Patty and the ghost Felicia followed the two girls in and the flaxen haired girl was faced with very similar but still different set of furniture.

The leather couches were still there, the jukebox and the pool table looked the exact same as the one back at the office. _But why was it all in an apartment…?_ Patty looked up to see Dante and Wade introduce themselves to the past Felicia.

“Wade and Dante?” Patty said with her brows arched. “They look kinda different too, just like Katrina...” She noted, spotting Wade’s brown hair was much more neat and he looked a bit older, while Dante had a slight stubble and dressed much differently. She tensed up when she heard a voice, her own voice. Her blue eyes looked over to see herself, or rather another Patty Lowell run down the stairs and greet the past Felicia. “I-Is that me?”

“It will all make sense soon.” Felicia told the girl with a slight shiver. She always hated what happened next.

The other Katrina and Patty kissed, and the past Felicia looked absolutely surprised at this, while the ghost Felicia simply was silent. Patty blushed hard at the sight and rubbed her arm, “Me and Katrina were… something, I see?”

“Yes you two were… while I was…” Felicia stared at her past self, remembering all the jealous emotions that ran through her that day.

Patty noticed this and looked at her friend, “I-I didn’t know, Felicia. I--”

“Let’s move on.” The dark haired girl quickly said and changed the scene.

They were in another apartment, this time with the past Felicia sitting alone on the couch idly watching TV. Patty and the ghost Felicia stood behind the past one, the flaxen haired girl looked around with confusion. That was until she saw Lady and Trish passed by her and greet the past Felicia with a smile. They were donned in dresses, apparently they were going out to a club.

“You lived with Lady and Trish?” asked Patty to her friend, trying her best to smile.

“Yes, I did. For a short time, though…” Felicia answered and raised her head up when storming footsteps were heard outside the door.

Patty froze up when she heard her voice again, but this time she was yelling.

“GET OUT KATRINA! JUST GET OUT!”

“I…” Patty stuttered, unable to say anything. She would never imagine herself yelling at any of her friends, especially Katrina, to whom at this point she actually considered more than just a friend.

The two watched as Katrina burst through the door, she looked absolutely disheveled and dirtied up. Apparently she had just returned from a mission and an argument with the other Patty. Her hair was even shorter now once she removed her red hood and she couldn’t meet Lady and Trish’s gaze as the other Patty shut the door to the other apartment. “Can I stay here for a bit…?” Katrina asked quietly and Trish nodded in response, pointing her in the direction of the bathrooms to get herself cleaned up.

Patty heard herself yelling from the other apartment next to this one, with the voices of Dante and Wade trying to calm her down. She felt intense chills run through her body as she watched the beat up Katrina walk past her. It was strange having her friends not even acknowledge her. “Is this what it feels like, Felicia...?” She asked the other girl, who only silently nodded.

The other Lady and Trish left, leaving only the past Felicia and the other Katrina left alone in the apartment. They sat together in silence, both not even watching the TV that at this point was simply noise. Katrina’s gaze was distant as she laid her head on her palm, while the past Felicia darted her eyes around nervously.

“Katrina?” the past Felicia said in a quiet voice and the blonde looked over at her with tired eyes. She slowly slid her hand to meet the other girl’s, her scarlet eyes gazing into the other’s oceanic eyes.

The two girls hugged briefly and there were bits of whispering heard that couldn’t be heard.

“I…” Felicia began slowly, looking over at Patty who was frozen in place as she watched with a tense expression. “I don’t know if you want to stick around to see this...” Even she didn’t want to.

Patty tried to say something when she opened her mouth, but all that came out was silence. She couldn’t pry her eyes off at the scene when the other Katrina suddenly laid the past Felicia down on the couch and they began kissing. The way they kissed was rather hard, with gasps of breath being made each second. She swore she saw tears forming from the past Felicia’s eyes the more they continued on. Patty managed to turn her gaze away once they started removing one another’s clothes.

Felicia felt her breath falter and she changed the scene as quickly as she could, saving her and Patty the pain. They were now in the same apartment, but it was a different night and inside someone’s room. Patty stared at the window that was being pelted with rain drops and then the sound of sniffling alerted her to something else. She watched as the past Felicia sit at her desk with tears that stained the paper she wrote on. The girl crumbled up the paper and threw it in the nearby trashcan that was overfilled with balled up papers. The past Felicia gathered her things and got into the warmest clothes possible then quietly made her way out of the apartment. Patty and Felicia followed the girl out the door, where she dropped the keys right on the doormat.

The past Felicia walked down the steps and into the rain, her hood barely protecting her from the weather. “I don’t belong here…” she said to herself, taking one last look back at the apartments. Felicia and Patty watched as the past girl tuck herself in her jacket and run off into the cold rainy night.

“I don’t belong here…” Felicia repeated in a hollow voice, watching with a distant gaze as the past version of herself disappeared into the night.

“Felicia…” Patty said, looking over at her friend who looked absolutely broken now. She pulled her friend into a hug and held on tight. “It’s okay, if this is too much to look back to we can just take a break here…”

“T-Thank you…” Felicia dug her face in Patty’s chest and wrapped her arms around the girl. They stood embracing one another for almost a few minutes until they slowly broke apart. “I-I think I’m ready to show you the next scene now. But we should just fast forward to my last moments…”

“Your last moments?” Patty repeated worriedly. The scene around them changed and it wasn’t anywhere remotely familiar. They were following the past Felicia now and as the scenes changed quickly, Patty watched the girl struggle to live in a new city, jumping from place to place since she had nowhere else to stay. The environment shifted from a city, to a school, until finally settling in on what appeared to be an emptied church with the past Felicia walking alone inside it.

“There was something I heard about. Deep inside this church, there was something that could grant any wish.” Felicia explained, watching the image of her past self cautiously walk down steps. “I thought I could fix everything with it. I thought I could but…” Her breaths were strained as the scene changed again to pure darkness with the sound of screams. Her screams.

Patty grabbed Felicia’s hand for comfort and edged closer to her, looking around everywhere in the shadows that enveloped every corner of the scene they were in.

“I became a monster.”

The darkness faded away to what was an environment that didn’t even seem possible. It was a landscape of bizarre proportions full of what appeared to be hallways and buildings that twisted and turned, torn apart statues that floated in place, vein-like strands that stretched across the entire see through glowing teal ground. The sky, or something that was supposed to be it, was lined with eerie ghost like apparitions that acted as clouds that circled the area around them.

“W-What is this place...?” asked Patty worriedly and put herself as close as possible to Felicia. She didn’t receive an answer and looked over to see her friends facing a large creature that screamed at them. They all looked much more different than she had last saw them. Her friends were all now older and she deduced this was something years into the future.

Lady was pressing a hand against her right eye that was profusely bleeding. The blood was seeping through her fingers and spilling onto the strange floor below her. “It took my fucking eye!”

Wade was unmasked and laid about the floor with Trish looking over his injuries. The mercenary’s eyes were fluttering as he held a hand over a large cut across his chest. Trish was panicking as she tried her best to stop the bleeding that had completely stained her hands. “Don’t you die on us, Wade!”

Katrina and Dante were the last ones keeping up the fight against the creature that resembled a strange black cloud that crackled with purple energy. Multiple black tendrils thrashed from the edges of the cloud and there was a glowing unrecognizable figure in the center. The creature summoned minions that resembled rotting corpses from the ground to attack the two demon hunters alongside a much larger shadow in the shape of a man that continuously attacked them with punches and kicks.

Patty released her grip on Felicia’s hand and ran over to her friends to check on them, even if they had no idea she was even there. She attempted to comfort Lady who was still screaming about her eye, then she rushed to Wade and Trish and hovered her hands over the mercenary’s injury. Patty’s tears were pouring from the edge of her eyes now and she looked over to see the creature emit a horrible sound once Dante finally was able to pierce the glowing figure with Rebellion. “I-Is…” she began and her gaze was placed on Felicia. “... that you?”

Felicia averted her friend’s gaze and nodded once in silence before shifting the scene. Felicia and Patty stood over Katrina swinging fists into what was left of the creature. The blonde was screaming and cursing loudly, telling the creature to die and never come back. Patty froze up, she had never seen Katrina act so violently, even if this was a different one.

The devil huntress placed her Uzi against the head of the creature and she wasted no time to fire. Though something in that moment made her furious expression falter a tiny bit. In a split second, she swore the creature looked right back at her with red eyes that reminded her of…

It was too late and the creature finally disappeared in ashes that faded away into the air. Katrina continued to stare at her bloodied hands with shock. “I wished I died right there.” Felicia finally spoke up as the scene slowly shifted. “But what I had to face was much worse than death…”

Patty and Felicia watched as a ghost like version of Felicia was stuck in the darkness. She was calling for her friends until her throat gave out. No one came for her cries of help and she only fell to her knees and wept loudly.

“I walked and walked. Until I saw these strange ‘windows’ that led to different worlds…” Felicia explained as they followed her past self stare blankly into a ‘window’ that resembled more like an open wound or glitch in reality.

“When I found out I could enter these windows and I was so happy at first, thought I was given another chance but…” Felicia trailed off as her past self was trying to catch the attention of her old friends. “I finally realized I wasn’t alive.”

The past Felicia’s expression completely dropped and she watched as her friends walk off without her. “I didn’t exist. They all forgot me. They never knew me.”

“It didn’t stop there… I found out these windows that showed different worlds were actually different realities.” Felicia led Patty through the dark area filled with the glitched windows. “I saw them… Dante, Lady, Trish, Wade, Katrina… and you. Every good reality... every bad reality… and I couldn’t do anything but watch.”

Patty was shown different interpretations of the world, specifically her life with her friends at the Devil May Cry. A short lived scene showed Dante, looking much older and happier, standing with a small white haired child in his arms. It changed to another reality which showed her two twins whom she didn't recognize at first. That was until she realized they bore some resemblance to Dante and Vergil. Though these twins were much younger, they dressed and looked different. The other Dante having short black hair and a black coat with red lapels, while the other Vergil had his white hair hidden with a hat and a black coat with blue accents. It changed to another reality where Vergil being a part of the Devil May Cry, apparently he had never fell over to his demonic side and stayed on the path of good thanks to his twin. She smiled a bit when she saw Wade and Lady prank Vergil and run off when he began chasing them.

It wasn't all happy like Felicia said and it was true when the reality shifted and she saw what would have happened if Lady had no help against her father, Arkham. She had to face him alone to try and stop him from achieving absolute power. The demon huntress hadn’t made it out alive. Another scene was shown where the experiment Wade went through was instead much more brutal and made him a killing machine with no conscience.

A gruff looking man with metal claws was shown standing against the mercenary turned monster. "Wade, is that you?" He asked with his thick brows furrowed. He barely even recognized his old friend now that his hair was shaved, scarred eyes, and his mouth was sown shut.

Wade said nothing, as he was unable to, plus the scientist who had did this to him was controlling him from a computer in a safe room. Long blades emerged from Wade's arms and he rushed the man with claws, both of them entering a brutal battle in an instant.

Patty was shown another scene where the heroes of the two worlds failed to stop Galactus from destroying everything. A beaten down Dante, Deadpool and Lady, who was holding Trish’s near dead body, alongside multiple other heroes, watched hopelessly as the sky turned red as their incoming doom inched closer and closer.

She was faced with more horrific scenes, this one being Ariel close to tears as she pressed her hand over a large cut across her stomach. The angel was still smiling though, but it was obviously filled with nervousness and worry. “I tried my best to convince you to stop…” she whispered to the shadowy figure that stood before her. “B-But still I… I believe in you!” she stuttered out. “I _know_ you! And I know there is still good in you! You just have to find it… it’s there... I…”

Patty’s eyes widened in shock when a katana blade was held up against the angel’s throat. Tears were passing through her brown cheeks but she still smiled. “I promise...” A loud slice rang through the streets and Ariel’s body slumped down.

The scene fast forwarded to the shadowy figure and Dante staring down one another inside a destroyed and desolate church. “What the hell did we ever do to you?” The demon hunter asked, his voice was hollow and his eyes were hidden beneath his silver bangs. “They didn’t deserve the things you’ve done to them… Wade, Trish, Katrina, Ariel, Lady… even Patty...”

“ _For power._ ” The shadow responded in a strange sounding voice.

Dante grinned but it was obviously see through and forced. “You’re one sick son of a bitch, you know that Vergil…” he gripped on Rebellion as his fake grin faded away instantly. “Actually... you're not Vergil, are you? No, Vergil wouldn't do this..." A fake chuckle came from his lips. "Whoever you are, I gave you enough chances. For killing my friends and possessing my brother... I’m gonna make sure you never see the light of day ever again."

“I can’t watch anymore…” Patty whispered in horror as she averted her eyes away as swords clashed along with Dante letting out a savage battle cry.

Felicia brought her friend into a tight hug, “It’s okay, please don’t cry… we can leave now.”

Patty opened her eyes again and she was back at the pier, back in her world. She sighed with relief and took a moment to take in everything she had just experienced. “I’m sorry.”

**_For what?_ **

“Everything you had to go through… you never deserved any of that.”

**_I… I did._ **

“You don’t!” Patty shot up and raised her voice. “That wasn’t you that tried to kill our friends, something was controlling you! I don’t care what you did, none of that matters anymore… what matters is that you’re still here now and I forgive you for everything!”

Felicia felt a chill go through her body. _**You said**_ **our** _ **friends… not your’s....**_

“Of course...” the flaxen haired girl said in a lowered tone now. “They’re my friends and they are yours too, no matter what.”

**_I… thank you so much, Patty. I really can’t thank you enough._ **

“Anything for you.” Patty said with a smile. She still felt a bit cold from seeing all of her friend’s experiences. All she really wanted now was a hug.

_**We can hug, if you want.** _

“You know what I was thinking?” the flaxen haired girl asked in surprise.

_**Well, I am a part of you at the moment so we both share things now. B-But I can get out now if you like, so we can, um, hug.** _

“Okay!”

An awkward silence passed by and Felicia stuttered a few incomprehensible words. “What’s wrong?” Patty asked again with concern.

_**I… I can’t get out!** _

“Oh...” was all the girl could say when she heard this. She thought for a moment until finally coming up with an answer. “I guess we can just go home!”

**_Wait, what? Like go with you?_ **

Patty nodded and smiled. She always saw the bright side of things and was quick to make the best of whatever happened to her.

_**I-I don’t know if I can… I tried to kill them….** _

_That was in the past, in another reality! I forgive you, remember and I know you can come with me! We can do it together! You can finally come home and see our friends again! You deserve that much after all that time being alone in the dark!_

Tears appeared at the edge of her eyes, but she knew they weren’t hers. “It’s okay, Filia. Trust me.”

**_I do but… wait, how did you know my real name?_ **

“You can see my memories… I can see yours.” Patty said, smiling. “Everything will be alright, I’ll be here with you.” she wrapped her own arms around herself, hoping it’d be enough to suffice for a hug for the other girl. “Let’s go home, okay?”

**_Thank you so much, Patty. Let’s go home...._ **

\---

Dante wasn’t all too sure at first after hearing the entire explanation. He went into deep thought for a moment, still trying to understand every detail the two girls had given to him. Demons, he could handle. But different realities? The thought alone baffled him and he wished he could just cast it aside and take another nap, but for some reason he believed Patty. He believed Filia. After all, she was his friend, different reality or not.

“Alright.” Dante finally said and relaxed back properly on the couch. “I believe you two. I’ll be keeping an eye out but... I believe everything you guys said.”

“Thank you so much Dante!” Patty hugged the half demon and he hung one arm around her back in response. “Thank you…” Filia said through Patty, their eyes flashing red for a moment.

“Don’t mention it, kid. Uh, kids.” the devil hunter released the girls and stood up from the couch. “Let’s get this place cleaned up a bit for everyone else when they come back. They have all the right to know about you two as much as I did.”

Eventually the rest of the team returned, with Dante greeting them and allowing Patty to sit them all down and begin explaining everything just as she had done for Dante. She told them everything, with Filia occasionally tuning in to add her share of explanations. The sight of Patty’s body being shared by another soul had gained a set of mixed reactions. Wade and Lady were rather interested in the new person inhabiting their friend’s body and were eager to listen to all the stories of the other realities. Trish however was a bit distrustful, especially when it came down to hearing the part where this girl, Filia, had attempted to kill them before. She stayed quiet though, soaking in the information given to her. When it came down to Ariel, she was the most forgiving as per usual. She didn’t even know the second soul and she already forgave her for everything and promised her she’ll do her best to be a good friend for the both of them.

Red eyes flashed at Katrina for a second, but Filia just couldn’t bring herself to fully meet her eyes. She noticed the blonde had an unreadable expression, almost looked as if had trouble believing it all. Patty mentally assured her ‘soulmate’ and said everything will take some time to get used to. The two eventually finished their explanation and the Devil May Cry staff knew they would have to get accustomed to one of their friends having another in their head.

After that, everything seemed to go on normally, even with Dante and Trish still keeping their eye on Patty from time to time. But Lady, Wade and Ariel got along quickly with Filia and that enough had boosted her spirits up more than it had ever been.

**_This really is my second chance…_ **

_You of all people deserve it._

Filia wished she had her own proper body just so she could give Patty the biggest hug she could ever muster, but sharing bodies had to suffice for now. They looked at Katrina who was approaching them with an indifferent look across her face. Patty could feel Filia tense up inside her.

“Well... like Dante said it’ll take some getting used to.” Katrina said, a soft smile coming across her lips. It was a bit strange knowing this other girl, Filia, had strong feelings for her, or rather a different Katrina. But like the others and Patty herself, she was willing to forgive. “But if what you said was true then…” she wrapped her arms around Patty, meaning for it to be for the both of them. “Welcome home. You _do_ belong here.”

Filia’s tears were released from Patty’s eyes and they both hugged Katrina tight. “Thank you...”

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: filia medici from the skullgirl series.
> 
> alternate realities would be meaning different versions of the written story. filia was from the previous red scare fic that i stopped working on. think everytime you rewrite a story or take characters out or add characters in, you're creating another reality of that story.


	24. Meet The Fidals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a certain angel's birthday today. Hopefully the Devil May Cry team can organize a party without anything going wrong.

“So there I was, butt ass naked and on the floor, lingerie snapped in half, with tears in my eyes while I cursed out every single piece of furniture in the room.” Lady continued on while Dante was practically half listening. “Trish was about to call the police but all I really wanted to do was cuddle. Long story short don’t buy your fucking lingerie from a succubus who specializes in masochism.”

“That’s a riveting tale, Lady.” The half demon sarcastically responded and pushed the doors to the Devil May Cry office open.

Lady rolled her eyes and pushed past her friend, “Whatever nerd, you’re just jealous.”

“You bet.”

“‘Sup guys.” Katrina greeted briefly before looking back into her book.

Dante and Lady stopped in place and looked each other in the eyes for a moment. “Who the hell are you?” They both asked in unison.

Katrina’s shoulders dropped as her deadpan gaze set down on the two demon hunters. “Katrina...?”

“I thought Kat has…” Lady trailed off, motioning a hand around her own hair.

“I got a haircut.”

Dante opened his mouth and snapped his finger. “Right. Haircut.” He said, trying to defuse the awkward situation. “I knew that.”

The blonde simply sighed and tried returning to her studies.

“That’s so cool though!” Lady complimented when she walked up to her friend, examining her new hairstyle that appeared to be an undercut. It was almost unbelievable and embarrassing how the two didn’t know it was her for a brief moment. “Who cut your hair?”

“Wade did.” The younger demon huntress answered. “He’s cutting Trish’s hair right now in the new bathroom.”

“I wanna see!” Lady immediately rushed upstairs, leaving Dante and Katrina behind in the main office space.

Dante kicked off his boots and practically threw himself on the other couch, ready to doze off once again. “What do you guys think of the expanded housing?” He asked with his eyes closed.

“Way better now. Everyone has their own room and it doesn’t feel cramped to shit anymore.” Katrina said with a smile.

“Sweet.” The half demon grinned and relaxed back. Katrina glanced over at him for a moment and it turns out he was already fast asleep.

\---

The raven haired woman skipped multiple steps on her way up and made her way through the newly renovated upstairs of the Devil May Cry office. They had all pitched in to expand the living quarters of the office by buying the rest of the building that apparently had been abandoned for quite some time. She nearly toppled a vase over and she spent a moment putting it back in place before continuing down the hall. The bathroom was in sight and the door was open, along with the simple sound of scissors being cut and Wade’s voice.

“So my foot’s totally stuck in there, right? I’m freaking out, the dog’s having a seizure, and I still have half a pie left.”

“What the hell, Wade.” Trish deadpanned, simply hearing her voice made Lady brighten and she knocked on the door frame to signify her presence.

Wade turned his head briefly and smiled seeing the devil huntress at the doorway. “My good friend, Lady! I was just tellin’ Trish here about the story where I--” He was speaking as he moved himself out of the way, revealing Trish to Lady.

“Trish, your hair!” Lady exclaimed, a bit too loud, upon seeing the demoness.

Her surprise was understandable as Trish’s long blonde hair had been cut short into a bob cut with bangs and even dyed a dark red. “Do you like it?” She asked, sounding a bit nervous to hear what her girlfriend thought of it.

“Like it?” Lady echoed and rubbed her chin for a second. She knew that Trish had been meaning to getting a new look for quite some time now. She knew all about her uneasiness of having the near perfect resemblance to Dante’s mother, Eva, saying it felt uncomfortable having someone else’s face. When Trish had first admitted her problem and why she had always covered up the mirrors in the home they shared before, Lady was completely understanding and told the woman she will accept her and love her no matter how she looks like. “I love it!” She said, her face beaming.

“You better! I spent all day working on her hair!” Wade said while brushing a few loose strands of cut hair off of Trish’s shoulders. He finally removed the salon robe from her and allowed her to stand up and stretch. “That’ll be 17.50, by the way.”

Trish scoffed but grinned afterwards. A certain scent caught her nose and before she could even say anything there was the sound of a gunshot that came from downstairs. This prompted the three of them to instantly rush back down to see what the commotion was. Wade slammed his fist against a button on the wall and it flipped over, showing a hidden cache of weapons. Lady grabbed her Skorpion and tossed Ombre over to Trish while Wade swiped up his M1911 pistol. The three arrived down in the living room to see Dante and Katrina training their weapons on two people who had their hands up in surrender.

“What’s the problem?!” Lady demanded, looking around confusedly.

“These two are demons.” answered Dante, nodding over to the two that arrived through the doors. They looked human by the looks of it, but Lady glanced over at Trish briefly and she confirmed the half demon’s suspicion with a nod.

“We can explain!” One of the demons blurted out, though she appeared as a brown skinned middle aged woman with dark hair. They noticed she spoke with a French accent, something that reminded them of their dear angelic friend.

The other demon nodded, he appeared as a middle aged blonde man. “We’re not here to hurt anyone, we swear.” He began slowly in a more calm manner, also in a French accent.

While some of the others lowered their weapons a bit, Trish kept her’s held up. “Make it quick.”

“My name is Maeva and this is _mon mari_ , Abel. This is the Devil May Cry, _oui_?” The woman asked. “Our daughter has been talking all about this place and the friends she made here.” This made the team look at one another with puzzled looks, slightly easing the tension.

“Her name is Ariel, you know her, correct? She talks about you all everyday. All the training you’ve been giving her and hospitality you’ve shown her as well.” The man said with a light smile, remembering how his daughter would always tell stories during dinner time.

“Yeah, we know her.” Dante confirmed with a brow raised. “But she’s an angel and you’re--”

“Demons?” The man finished for him. “We know.”

“What do you want with us then?” asked Lady curiously.

The couple looked at each other briefly before turning their attention back at the demon hunters. “It is our daughter’s birthday today.” The mother finally said. “We were hoping you all, as her friends, would help us celebrate? She never had much friends growing up so her past birthdays had always been mellow at best, but now we could finally give her something worth enjoying!”

After a few seconds of silence from the team, Katrina set down her Uzi on the table and dug her hands in her hoodie pockets. “I’m in.”

“Yeah me too!” Lady agreed as she threw her Skorpion carelessly on the couch. “It’s the least we can do for her, she’s always helping out around here!”

Wade shot a thumbs up to his friend’s parents, “Any excuse to cook up some good ass meals!”

Dante shrugged, his lazy smirk back on his face again. “Eh, why the hell not? Count me in.” He looked over at Trish, who had already put her weapon down but she looked as if she were deep in thought. “Trish?”

“Okay.” She said after a beat. She tried smiling for the parents, “What did you have in mind?”

The couple was ecstatic but they held in their excitement. “Ariel thinks we’re only having a simple dinner for today after she gets out of class, but instead you all could throw a surprise party for her here?” Abel asked with a wide grin.

“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about.” Dante said with a snap of his finger. “We’ll get everything sorted out on this end.”

“Thank you so much!” Maeva cheerfully said and bowed a bit. “We’ll drive her over here tonight after we pick her up!”

The half demon nodded, “Sweet. Seeya then.”

After the couple had left, the Devil May Cry team took a moment to converse amongst themselves. “An angel raised by demon parents, huh?” Katrina noted aloud as she closed her book.

“Maybe that’s why she thinks she’s a demon?” pondered Lady.

“That’s a weird origin story if I ever heard one.” Wade commented with a chuckle.

“Save it for later guys, let’s get things sorted around here for the party.” Dante said, interrupting the others’ banter.

“I’m surprised you didn’t say, _‘let’s get this party started,’_ or whatever the hell you always say.” mocked Trish in what was assumed to be an impression of Dante.

The half demon simply scoffed and shrugged it off, walking up the stairs while making a mental note of what to get for Ariel’s party. That was a sign for the rest of the team to disperse and get the place ready, with Wade heading over to the kitchen to begin cooking and Katrina retrieving cleaning products from under the kitchen sink. Lady and Trish went over to the broom closet to search for any left over things from past parties to use.

As Dante walked through the hallway the door to Patty’s room opened and the girl yawned quietly upon walking out, a set of clothes hanging around her arm. “Mornin’ kiddos.” The half devil greeted as he passed her by.

“Good morning, Dante.” Patty returned with a smile.

“It’s El’s birthday today, by the way.” Dante explained, shifting his body around to face the girl as he walked backwards down the hall. “So you two can help around or whatever.”

“Ooh, alright! I’ll get ready now!” She said and walked into the bathroom.

As he heard the sound of the shower starting up, Dante briefly wondered if it was awkward showering with a second person sharing your body. He casted the thought aside and went into his own room to get some clothes ready.

\---

Later that night, Ariel and her parents drove through the city. Despite being told they were only going out for dinner for her birthday, she still couldn’t contain her excitement. If only her friends from the Devil May Cry could have came, but she was understanding as their work tended to be busy at times. Though she mentally chided herself for not having told them sooner so they could have done something earlier, but college exams have her flooded with studying and papers. She couldn’t even make it to several training lessons which further saddened her. Though she thought about all the training she can receive during break and that instantly brought her cheeriness back.

Her brown eyes looked out the window and she watched as they passed by the restaurant her parents had told her they were going to eat at. “I believe we passed by eatery.” She said to her parents.

“No worries, Ariel, we are heading over to a different restaurant that had just recently opened up.” Abel assured his daughter, passing by a childish grin over to his wife.

“ _Je vois_!” Ariel nodded and eased herself back in the seat. She pocketed her hands in her dark purple leather jacket she wore over her black dress and quietly sighed.

After a bit of driving the car pulled up in front of, strangely, the Devil May Cry office. She tilted her head and looked at her parents. “What are we doing here?” She asked, looking at the office that had not a single light on. Even the neon lit sign was turned off, perhaps her friends were out of town?

“I could have sworn this was the right place.” Abel said to himself, looking down at his phone. He turned off the car and opened the door, “Let’s ask for directions, _oui_?”

Maeva smiled at her daughter and opened her own door as well. “Come along now, Ariel.”

The angel was a bit confused but complied as she exited the car and followed her parents up to the office. “I do not think anyone is home.” She pointed out, her parents not immediately giving her a response. She was looking back at the car and didn’t realize her parents opened the double doors for her. “Perhaps we should--”

The lights in the office suddenly turned on and to her surprise, all of her friends jumped out from behind the couch and greeted her. “Surprise, happy birthday!” They all said together. Ariel covered her wide smile with both hands and she gasped, unable to tell if this was all real or not. She looked at her parents for a moment and they shared her smile, then she turned back to her friends who ran over to her. They all pulled her into a group hug and she laughed cheerfully as she hugged back.

“Wow, I’m almost speechless, but thank you all!” Ariel said after they all released one another.

“No need, El!” Lady assured and held a filled shot glass to her friend. “You’re 21 now, babe! Let’s get crazy!”

Patty took the shot out of the angel’s hands at gave a accusing finger towards the demon huntress. “No drinking until after dinner!” She said, then put on an innocent smile for Ariel, not seeing Lady’s disgruntled look.

“I agree!” Ariel said with a smile and stood on her toes to see what was on the dinner table for all of them. “The food smells _magnifique_!”

“Wait ‘till you taste a bite!” Wade said with both eyebrows raised. He led her to the dinner table along with a few others.

Maeva and Abel approached Dante and Trish, they were both smiling ear to ear. “We cannot thank you enough for all of this.” The father said with his hands clasped together.

“Don’t mention it.” Dante nodded, looking over at Ariel looking over at all the food with bright eyes. “Now c’mon, let’s eat up.”

“Don’t mind if we do!” Maeva laughed and took her husband’s hand as they walked over to the table.

They were all served a wondrous set of meals spanning from a cooked turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, honey baked biscuits, vegetable soups, lasagna, ice cream cake and much more that it could have been mistaken for a Thanksgiving dinner. The rest of the night was spent with the Devil May Cry team getting to know more about Ariel and her parents, plus sharing their own various stories as well. After dinner, socializing continued about around the office as Wade fiddled with the jukebox to play _Sunshine_ by _Atmosphere_.

As Ariel was speaking with Patty and her ‘soulmate’, Dante, Lady and Katrina were seated with Maeva and Abel talking about various things.

“She was just a baby when we found her, couldn’t have been more than 2 months old.” Maeva said, sounding a bit sad as she rubbed her thumb around the wine glass she held. She still couldn't believe anyone would even leave behind a baby like that.

“Angels abandoning a baby, never thought I’d hear that in my life.” Lady mumbled, feeling angered now at the thought of people abandoning their own child.

“We couldn’t raise her in demon world either, it’d be way too dangerous. So me and my wife sought out safety in the human realm, specifically in France at first until we had moved here in America. Settling in the human realm was rather tough but we pulled through in the end.” Abel gazed over at his daughter and smiled warmly. “It was all worth it in the end, as Ariel has grown up to be a very talented young woman. I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter.”

“She’s pretty cool.” Katrina agreed, “Though I don’t think demon hunting should be the profession she should look into.”

“Yeah, about that...” Dante interjected, “Do you two know why she even wants to be a demon hunter?”

Maeva laughed a bit at the question. “She’d spend hours upon hours reading these stories about the myth of the Dark Knight Sparda and his endeavors. The appearance of those ‘super heroes’ only further fueled her goal of becoming a hero, as she called it.”

“Except Ellie wouldn’t even hurt a fly!” Lady added, “Like Kat said, maybe she should find something else to do?”

“It has been tough, since when Ariel sets her mind on something she will never stop until she achieves it.” Abel explained with a shrug.

“Guess we just gotta push her in the right direction.” Dante said, pondering to himself. “By the way, are you two the reason she thinks she’s a demon?”

The parents of the angel both tensed up. “Unfortunately, yes… we just never gotten the heart to tell her of her true origins.” Maeva said quietly. Her expression looked a bit gloomy. “She’s just too innocent.”

“She’s also an adult now.” Katrina reminded them. “I’m sure she can handle it. Just gotta talk with her privately.”

“You’re right…” Abel agreed as he rubbed his nose after removing his glasses. “Better late than never, I suppose.”

“Shall we?” Maeva asked her husband, extending her hand to him. He placed his glasses back on and smiled at his wife, taking her hand as the two got up and went over to where their daughter was. They saw that she was talking with Trish and decided to allow their daughter to finish conversing with her friend before talking with her.

“Really?” Trish asked, her interest being perked when Ariel had recognized the book she was reading and noted it as one of her favorites. She didn’t particularly have any opinion on Ariel at first, but that was due to them never really talking face to face. Perhaps tonight is when that would change.

The angel nodded with a smile, “I’m a big fan of that particular author. Sadly though I haven’t been able to find their other novels in my school’s library.”

“Hmm…” The demoness trailed off. “Tell you what Ariel, you can borrow some of mine.”

Ariel’s face lit up upon hearing this. “Really?”

“Yeah, think of it as another birthday present.” Trish said with a wink. “Hold on, I’ll get them right now from my room.”

“Okay!” Ariel nodded, barely containing her excitement. Once the demoness had walked up the stairs, the angel noticed her parents call her over.

“Ariel, may we have a word?” asked Abel. He felt a bit tense but he and his wife both knew they had to tell their daughter the truth.

Ariel tilted her head, “ _Oui_ , what is it?”

Maeva took in a deep breath and held her daughter’s hand. “Ariel… you’re--”

Dante had been relaxing back until that certain scent caught his nose. At first he assumed it was Ariel’s parents, but this scent was much stronger. He didn’t have time to act before the front of the office was destroyed suddenly. He cursed to himself, he had just gotten the office fixed up and now this happens. He stood up with Wade, Katrina and Lady, waiting for the smoke of the destroyed wall to subside. They spotted multiple shadows from within the smoke and once it faded away, it revealed a crowd of warrior-like demons.

“And everything was just going so well too...” The half devil mumbled to himself.

“ _THERE!_ ” One of the leading demons (which appeared as a armor wearing rotting skeleton with glowing eyes) shouted out, pointing a bony finger at Maeva and Abel. “ _The demons who betrayed all of us by raising a scum to all of demon kind…_ ” His glowing orbs moved over to Ariel, who looked fearful. “ _An angel!_ ”

“Angel…?” Ariel echoed with widened eyes, she looked over at her parents who were also trembling now. 

**To Be Continued...**


	25. To Kill Or Not To Kill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Devil May Cry team battle the horde of demons that have invaded their home. Ariel must make an important choice in desperate times.

“Did they follow you?” Dante questioned Ariel’s parents, snapping them out of their shock.

“N-No, we wouldn't have known!” Ariel immediately denied, stepping in front of her parents defensively.

Lady heaved up Kalina Ann and aimed it at the demons that had burst through their home. “Forget about it! Let’s kick these fucks outta here first before we start accusing people!”

Wade, Dante and Katrina followed her example and brandished their own weapons. The demons growled and took out their own weapons in response, they were very aware of the demon hunters of the Devil May Cry and were more than happy to take them out along with the angel and her traitor parents.

Ariel tensed up even further, everything was at a standstill now and she had to do something. “Wait, we can talk this out!” She offered to both her friends and the demons. “There is no need to fight!”

“Patty, take Ariel and her folks upstairs now.” Dante ordered to the girl, not taking his cold blue eyes off the demons.

“Okay!” Patty nodded and gestured the family upstairs. The parents were happy to oblige but their daughter however stood her ground. “Ellie, we have to go, it’s too dangerous down here!”

“ _Non_ … I know I can solve this with no violence.” Ariel said, nervously. She slowly stepped towards the demons, assuring her friends and parents that had shouted at her to stay back. “Even if you are demons, I'm sure you can still be reasoned with! Please, let’s all just put down the weapons and--” There was a sound of gunpowder being blown and she was shoved aside.

Trish winced at the pain of a spear impaling her gut. She chided herself but atleast she was able to get Ariel out of harm’s way. “Get out. Now.” She said to the angel, looking back at her in shock.

“T-Trish! I-I’m...” Ariel managed to sputter out, before Patty ran over to her and began dragging her upstairs.

“You motherfuckers!” Lady screamed out after seeing Trish shot. She fired her rocket launcher almost instantly at the demons. A few were caught in the fiery explosion but the rest managed to disperse around the office. Using this distraction she ran over to where Trish was and stood in front of her, making sure none of the other demons were ready to take another shot at her.

“Lady, make sure Trish is okay and that none of the demons get to Ariel and Patty!” ordered Dante as he, Wade and Katrina rushed the demons with their weapons.

Wade spun his katanas in both hands and clashed blades with the leading skeletal demon who had blades for arms. “You’re so boned for steppin’ up in my house!” The mercenary said through his teeth after flipping right over the demon and swinging his katanas down.

The demon was quick to parry the attack and continue swing its own blades at Wade. It called for assistance and yet another skeletal demon emerged from behind the mercenary. Wade noticed the second beast and ducked down to avoid the surprise attack. He brought his foot back and kicked the demon behind while thrusting his katanas into the other one. “I’m gonna rattle your bones!” He laughed as he lifted the demon over his head and used it to smash its fellow skeletal counterpart.

Katrina boosted herself from the pool table and dropkicked a werewolf like demon in the jaw. She kicked herself off the ground and sidestepped the same demon’s claw swipe. After grabbing its arm, she used its momentum from its own attack and throw it into the wall. She saw Wade toss her one of his katana blades and she caught it and swiftly thrusted it in the back of the werewolf demon’s head. She turned around to see two demonic satyrs with spiked clubs gunning for her and she pulled out the katana from the back of the werewolf’s head and sliced open one of the satyr’s throats.

As the injured demon attempted holding back the blood gushing from its own throat, its comrade charged the devil huntress and she simply brandished her Uzi and riddled its face with bullets until it had torn apart its very skull. Katrina kicked down the demon’s corpse and then pushed aside the other one who had been choking on its own blood. She threw Wade’s katana in another direction and proceeded towards another set of demons.

Dante caught the katana and spun around, slicing the head off of a gorgon demon. He smirked and kicked the fallen demon’s head to another one as if it were a soccer ball. The other gorgon demon grew enraged and rushed the white haired half demon with a snapping sound. It attempted to capture Dante in its snake-like lower body but he was quick jump over it and drive Wade’s katana at the end of its tail, trapping it in place. As it let out a scream of pain, Dante landed behind it and held it in a chokehold.

He pushed one of his handguns behind the demon’s back and fired wildly. Bullets ripped through the demon’s back and out its chest, managing to take out several other demons around the office as well. “You’re gonna feel that in the morning.” He said with a grin as he kicked the gorgon down into the floor as it’s corpse faded away from existence.

Lady drove a grotesque puppet demon up against a wall while letting out a savage yell. She repeatedly punched the demon’s face until her fist had broken through its porcelain like face and its black blood spurted out from each hit. She threw the body aside and raised up her Skorpion, firing off a few shots at more puppet demons that teleported in behind her. A blast of lightning caught one of the demons and it exploded into a black mist. She ran over to where Trish was, the demoness knelt down in pain but still doing her best to fight off the demons.

“Can’t you just pull it out!?” questioned Lady, returning her attention to more devils that began pouring into the office. Having no time to reload her Skorpion, she pulled out her Desert Eagle handgun and continuing firing.

“If you were in my position, I’m pretty sure you would’ve said ‘that’s what she said.’” Trish said, trying to smile. Her teeth grit again and she lifted up her hand to fire another lightning bolt to reduce more demons into ash. “It’s simple, yeah, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

Lady tried to smile as well and she reached for the spear that had impaled her girlfriend. Trish shook her head and wrapped her own hands around the spear. “I’ll get it out, just cover me.” She assured.

The demon huntress bit her bottom lip and nodded. She quickly reloaded her weapons and stood up to continue defending Trish. One of the gorgon demons whipped its tail in her direction and Lady backpedaled to dodge it and quickly grabbed a hold of the tail. She held the demon in place as she emptied her submachine gun in the back of its head. Bullets effortlessly lodged into the gorgon’s skull and it slumped forward before turning into ash.

\---

Ariel stood near the door to the room nervously. She kept her ear out and listened on with worry at the battle downstairs. What if her friends were in danger? She had to get down there and help them! Though as much as she wanted to, what was she gonna do when she gets downstairs? The idea of fighting now seemed completely foreign to her now that reality set in. The angel chided herself more and more, she wished she was as brave as her friends instead of cowering in fear.

“Ellie, are you okay?” asked Patty carefully. “Maybe you should sit back down with us…”

“I don’t know.” Ariel finally said after some thought. “Trish took a shot meant for me and all I did was run… I feel horrible for not staying and helping.”

Patty rested her hand on the angel’s shoulder, “It’s okay, I promise. Dante and them can handle this, I know this because they can and always pull through everything.”

“I don’t doubt their strength but I know I can fight and I want to fight alongside them! They’re doing everything they can for me and I want to repay them atleast just that!”

“Ariel…” Patty sighed, her brows arched in worry.

“Trust me.” Ariel said with a small smile. She looked back at her parents, who had been listening in quietly. They only offered comforting smiles and quiet nods. They believed in her, just as she believes in everyone else. “Please keep my parents safe.” She whispered to Patty.

“We will.” Patty said confidently, her eyes flashing from blue to red for a quick moment. With that being finally said, Ariel left through the door and rushed downstairs.

\---

Wade flipped over and pulled his second katana from the floorboards, barely blocking an attack from a centaur demon who wielded a massive blade. “So did you get the horse part from your mom or your dad?” He asked the demon who only gnawed its fangs at him. “Either way, whoever’s crazy enough to do the frickity fuck with a horse has got some real issues! Like Loki!” He turned over to you for a moment and whispered, "Don't believe me? Look it up, Loki fucked a horse. It's _high-key_ fucked up, I'll tell you that!"

“ _Silence mortal!_ ” The centaur demanded and used its superior strength to put the mercenary on his knees. The Merc with the Mouth still continued to hold the standstill with his own blades, which annoyed the demon much more than this human’s mocking.

“Quit horsing around and answer my question!” Wade laughed despite his arms shaking against the larger demon’s weapon.

Just then, a chain sickle flew through the air and locked in with the centaur demon’s blade. The devil was pulled away with great force and it struck the wall. Everyone turned their attention to Ariel as she pulled her weapon back. “Leave my friends alone!” She warned with grit teeth.

“ _The angel!_ ” One of the leading demons roared and pointed its weapon at her. “ _Let us tear this abomination apart limb from limb!_ ”

“Not if I got anything to say about it!” Lady said and used Kalina Ann’s bayonet to slice the demon’s head clean off. “Now get lost!” She delivered a front kick to the body and sent it crashing into another set of demons.

Wade shot the angel a thumbs up before rushing over to the centaur demon and slicing its two arms off. A manic grin grew on his face and he swung both of his katanas against the demon’s throat. “CANADA!”

Ariel winced at the violence she witnessed but quickly tossed it aside when she noticed Trish still struggling with the spear in her gut. “Trish!” She called and her weapon phased away from her hands.

“Ariel?” The demoness said, surprised. “I thought you were upstairs!”

“I was, but I cannot leave _mes amies_ behind!” She responded with her confident smile. Her hands began glowing a light blue and she held it around Trish’s wound. “This should help, try to take it out now!”

Trish nodded and grit her teeth, slowly pulling out the spear from her gut. She noticed the angel had a grimaced expression upon seeing all the blood spill in her own hands but she kept steady. Once the spear was out, the demoness let out a sigh of relief and the angel pressed both of her palms against both ends of the wound and accelerated Trish’s natural healing.

“Thank you, Ariel.” Trish said after her wounds had fully healed.

“Anything for my friend.” Ariel smiled and watched as the demoness stood up to her feet quick.

“Listen, you did all you could.” The demoness began, “I think you should go back with your parents.”

“I can help!” She interjected and shot up as well.

“Well start helping then!” Lady called out as she fired Kalina Ann’s bayonet at another centaur demon. The bayonet dragged the demon towards her and once it was close enough she pressed her submachine gun in between its eyes and fired a shot that splattered its brain matter everywhere.

Katrina tackled a demon down and drove her combat knife through its skull. She pulled out her blade and flipped it, using her fingers to hold it by the tip. She set her sights on an unfocused demon wielding a spear gun, the same one that had shot Trish, and threw the knife towards it. The blade lodged into the side of the devil’s neck and it felt its hand around the weapon. Katrina ran in and drove a kick to the end of the blade, further sending it through the demon’s neck until it slouched over, dead. “We’re pushing them back!” She called to her friends, noticing some of the devils were now reluctant to keep on the attack.

“Hope you demon scum got wallets in those skirts of yours because I’m gonna make you all pay for ruining my office!” Dante said as he sliced Rebellion through multiple attacking demons.

A minotaur demon heaved a large spiked hammer over the white haired demon hunter, he readied himself to parry the attack until an angel’s chain sickle wrapped around the hammer and pulled it away. “Look out, Dante!” Ariel called and she swung her weapon around again, keeping the other demons at bay but never exactly hitting them.

Lady was quick to notice this and after she pushed aside a demon’s corpse, she told the angel. “El, this is serious! You gotta take out the demons!”

Ariel couldn’t say much, she had realized she simply was only keeping their enemy back but never hurting them. Her previous confidence had immediately took a turn backwards when she saw the demons noticed her tactics too and began looking less afraid.

“ _The angel won’t hurt us! This will make it much easier!_ ” One of the demons said to its comrades and they all charged forth.

“Ellie, you have to fight!” Katrina shouted as she scrambled to reload her Uzi. Another skeleton-like demon pounced the demon huntress and she was quick to kick it off her body.

Dante grit his teeth as demons attacked him from all sides. He swung Rebellion a few times, then pulled out Ivory with his free hand and fired in multiple directions. “We can handle this kid!” He called towards Ariel, who was still frozen in place. “You did all you can, just go!”

Trish clapped her hands together and a blue lighting bolt crackled from her fingertips and blasted multiple devils away. “Don’t worry about us, you don’t need to fight!” She said, turning her gaze briefly at the angel before returning to fighting.

Ariel had no clue what to do now, her hands gripped hard on her scythe. She tried speaking but no words came out, as if she had forgotten how to even talk. Her brown eyes noticed Wade was brought down to the ground, barely holding back another large minotaur demon he had underestimated. “Wade!” She finally managed to say and broke apart her scythe, tossing the chain sickle at the back of the demon that overpowered him and dragged it towards her.

“ _Angel scum._ ” The demon growled as it simply pulled out the sickle that impaled its back. It began stomping its way towards Ariel, who was now frozen in place.

“Stay back!” The angel attempted to threaten, pulling out her angelic lever-action shotgun from her leather jacket. She shakily pointed it at the minotaur demon that didn’t falter one bit from her threats. “I’m warning you!”

“Pull the trigger!” Lady shouted, unable to help as she was busy fighting off another set of demons.

“Hold on Ariel, I’m coming!” called Trish as she struggled to kill a pesky gorgon demon that was continuously whipping its tail at her.

“ _Go on then, puny angel._ ” The minotaur demon chuckled. It tossed its own weapon aside and feigned surrender. “ _Shoot me._ ”

“I-I ... I can’t.” Ariel quivered quietly, her fingers slowly losing her grip on her weapon.

The minotaur swiped her shotgun out of her hands and tossed it aside. “ _A pity. I’ve always wanted to face a powerful angel, but instead I have a weakling in my hands._ ” It snorted and cracked its knuckles. “ _No matter, this will be fun nonetheless._ ” Ariel couldn’t close her eyes as she watched the demon raised both of its large fists above her.

“Dante!” called Wade as he rolled on the ground and threw Rebellion towards his friend before being tackled by a demon. The half demon caught his blade and spun around before chucking the demonic broadsword towards the minotaur. Ariel flinched back when she watched Dante’s blade impale the demon with enough force it was pinned to the wall.

Ariel was finally broken out of her trance and she kicked her shotgun to slide it towards Trish. “Use this!”

The demoness couldn’t help but grin once she kicked up the angelic shotgun and held it in her hands, the power emanating from it being drastically different from demonic weapons. “Let’s see how this works.” She said and aimed it right towards a goblin-like devil leaping towards her. She pulled the trigger and a burst of white flames erupted from the barrel of the shotgun and completely disintegrated the demon from thin air.

The other demons took notice to this and they all began to reconsider their attack now that there was an angelic weapon being used against them. “Get the fuck out of our house!” Wade exclaimed and fired his M4 carbine at the demons, who began to retreat.

Trish followed them with Ariel’s shotgun and continued firing bursts of white flames at any of demon stragglers. The kick to the weapon was intense and she felt her own fingers slightly burn from being so close to the barrel of the shotgun. As soon as most of the demons were outside, Lady smiled and was happy to use her rocket launcher now. A rocket was fired from Kalina Ann and directly struck the remaining group of demons, sending their limbs flying as far as the eye can see.

The remaining demons summoned a portal as means of their escape and Dante raised up Ebony and Ivory against them. That was, until Ariel appeared at his side and eased her hands on his arms. “Let them go, _s'il vous plait_.” She said quietly. “They had already given up.”

The half demon looked into the angel’s eyes for a moment and clicked his tongue, settling his handguns behind him after a beat. “Fine.” He sighed and looked around the office, then his own friends. “Everyone alright?”

A silence and still expressions followed, which usually had meant they were. Dante didn’t even bother to look over the damage done to his office and dropped back onto the couch, where Wade and Lady followed his example.

Trish flipped the angelic shotgun around and handed it over to Ariel, who thanked her quietly before hiding it back inside her jacket. The angel felt strange, almost blaming herself for everything had happened tonight. She only wanted a fun birthday with her family and friends, was it truly too much to ask for? That wasn’t just it either, reality had fallen on her and she realized many things in a single night, which still baffled her.

“Ellie.” Katrina broke her out of thought by calling her name. “We’re… sorry. For almost pushing you to kill.” Her oceanic eyes looked dim as she lowered her head.

“It’s okay.” Ariel said, almost automatically. “I was foolish to believe I could be heroes like you all.”

“Except we’re not heroes, El.” interjected Lady, her dual colored orbs meeting the angel’s. “We’re demon hunters, mercenaries. We kill people and demons for money. That’s not heroic and you know it.”

Ariel’s eyes went towards the ground as she rubbed her hands together. “I do know now…” She said with a sigh. “Perhaps this isn’t really for me.” She then looked back up at her friends, the lights in her eyes suddenly returning. “But that doesn’t mean I should give up! There are hundreds upon hundreds of things for me to do, right? No one is bad at everything! I just have to find the thing I excel at!”

Her confidence and positivity always warmed them up, no matter what. “You’re right, kid. I know you’ll find something you’ll really be great at.” Dante said assuringly.

“Yeah!” Wade instantly agreed with a toothy smile. “You can probably teach French in schools, or hell, start a cooking show! You’re awesome at cooking, you could probably be the next Gordon Ramsey except with way less shouting and meanie-ness!”

“I could try that!” Ariel said with a chuckle. Just the thought of being in a chef uniform already made her giddy. She heard her parents call for her and she turned to see them walking down the stairs with Patty. The girl nearly fainting at the sight of the destruction, but she was more relieved that everyone had made it out okay.

Maeva and Abel hugged their daughter tightly, they let out sighs of relief and held onto the angel a bit longer before letting her go. “It is alright, _maman et papa_. I am okay and so are my friends.” Ariel assured them.

“We were so worried.” Maeva was nearly in tears but she wiped them away.

“We wouldn’t know what to do if we ever lost you…” Abel said quietly.

Ariel hugged her parents again and after they broke off, she asked them a certain question. “What was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

The two looked at one another and sighed, then asked the Devil May Cry team for some privacy as they sat their daughter down to speak with her. Dante and his friends kindly obliged and walked out through the massive hole the demons had made in their office. They watched from afar as Maeva and Abel spoke to their daughter for a good half hour. Surprisingly, Ariel’s face didn’t grow dim but only glew brighter and brighter upon each word passed. She hugged her parents and was practically in tears now. She called her friends back and they re entered their office, all of them being brought into a hug from the angel.

“Someone’s happy.” Trish commented with a smile and hugged the angel back.

“I am!” Ariel laughed, wiping a tear from her eye. “ _Mon parents_ truly are the best anyone can ever ask for. I always knew something was strange about my powers, could you believe I used to think I was simply a demon?”

“The wings and the white and blue colored weapons didn’t give it away, kid?” asked Dante playfully as he ruffled the angel’s hair.

“I am just glad they finally told me the truth.” Ariel said, looking back at her parents for a moment. “Even if they are demons and I am an angel, they will always be my parents no matter what. And I will always love them. They are my family.”

“Woohoo!” Wade cheered as he raised a beer bottle from seemingly out of nowhere. “Everyone’s happy then! Let’s get drunk!”

“Fuck that, I’m gonna go knock out in bed.” Katrina said with a soft chuckle.

Lady smirked and pushed the younger demon huntress aside. “Adults only anyway, blondie.”

“Oh, they _always_ tell me that!” Patty pouted with her cheeks puffed out.

Later, Ariel and her parents got ready to make their leave. “It may not have been the best birthday party, but I could care less about that.” Ariel began and smiled at her friends. “I’m just glad I have such amazing friends.” She then looked her parents. “And such a loving family.”

“Thank you, all of you, for everything.” Maeva said, bowing her head a bit to the Devil May Cry team.

“We’re sorry for the wall.” Abel nervously laughed, “We can always--”

Dante waved his hand off, “Ah, it’s whatever. A couple jobs will pay for it and we’ll be fine.”

“Now get home already, it’s getting late!” Lady reminded them and Ariel gasped.

“Right! I have class tomorrow, let us go!” She grabbed both of her parents’ hands and ran over to the car that had miraculously survived the attack. The family said their goodbyes to the demon hunters as they began driving away.

They all stood watching until the car had disappeared from view. Wade surveyed the damage in the office and sucked his lips in. “So... who’s gonna put the wall back up so a draft won’t come in?”

**To Be Continued...**


	26. Hell's Kitchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Devil May Cry team are tasked with investigating a new lead about the Mundus Unit.

The door slid open with a hiss, revealing Pietro standing from the other side with his usual grin. “Good evening, my friends.” He greeted Dante, Lady, Trish and Wade as they walked through the door.

“This better be important, not-Dante, I was in the middle of my anime.” Wade said to the speedster as he walked past him.

“Is very important. Miss Maya told me specifically to get you four.” Pietro responded as they followed him through the metallic hallways. They all made idle conversation as they made their way around.

“Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch?” Lady repeated with a brow raised.

“Yes, is codenames S.H.I.E.L.D. has given us.” Pietro said with a shrug. “I like them. But Wanda is not big fan of cool names like me.” He winked and they entered another room. He turned around and gestured to a table that was designated for a coffee machine. “Care for drink?”

“Sure. Make it black.” Trish said, after a long yawn. Before she knew it, a steaming mug of coffee was already in her hands. “Thanks.” She nodded to the speedster and took a sip.

“I like mine sweet.” Lady added and she instantly received her mug as well, causing her to smile wide. "Sweet like my baby mama." She cooed towards Trish with fluttering eyelashes, causing the demoness to blush slightly.

Pietro made his own drink and offered one to Dante and Wade, but they respectfully turned down his offer. “Okay, follow me.” He instructed as he went towards another door and began typing in a code.

The room they entered was nearly pitch black, save for the faint light emanating from a one way window a few figures inside the room were staring into. Dante stuffed his hands inside his pockets and recognized the faces of his friends the closer he got.

“Hi guys.” Lilith quietly greeted the Devil May Cry team with a wave. Trish and Lady both gave her a quick hug before taking their seats with her.

Chuck and Anti-Venom shook hands with Wade and Dante, as Chris and Jill nodded in their direction. Pietro propped himself against a table in the back of the small room and preoccupied himself with his coffee. “So what’s going on?” asked Dante in a lowered tone.

“During that whole mess Gargan and the Venom symbiote caused back in San Francisco, we pulled out these unmarked soldiers.” Chuck explained.

Dante looked into the window everyone had their gaze on, it was a white room with a simple table in the middle. There was a lone, gruff looking man that was seated with his hands cuffed to the table.

“They all had suicide capsules disguised as fake teeth too.” added Lilith. They all watched as two people enter the other room through a door, catching the man’s attention.

That perked Lady’s interest. “Like those guys we ran into back at the museum?” Lilith nodded in response and they all returned their attention to the other room.

“You know why you’re here.” A voice said, which Trish and Lady found familiar. It was C. Viper and she calmly took a seat from the other side of the man. The two demon huntresses noticed their friend’s previously amputated arm had been replaced with a beige colored robotic prosthetic that practically functioned as a new arm.

“Wish I wasn’t.” The soldier grunted. “So what’re you supposed to be, bad cop?” He asked the agent before him. “And I guess this kid over here’s supposed to be the good cop.” His sharp eyes fell upon Wanda, who was standing against the wall with her arms crossed.

The telekinetic girl didn’t say anything, only offering the man her usual creepy stare. “Nope.” C. Viper began, catching the man’s attention again. “I'm bad cop. She's  _worse_ cop.” She said as her expression grew dark.

The soldier went silent and C. Viper slid an opened folder towards him. “From the gear you use and the unexplainable loyalty you have, as evidenced by your suicide capsules to prevent capture, you and your unit highly match the descriptions made from another task force met at the Museum of Otherworldly Wonders that were after the artifact containing an army of demons.”

“So what?” He sneered, having barely looked over the information given to him. “That’s just an assumption, you can’t prove anything.”

“We’re trying to be gentle.” C. Viper said, her brow twitching at the difficulty this man was giving her. ”Something I highly disapprove of.”

“It don’t matter either way.” The soldier said, slouching back from his seat as a mocking smile came across his face. “Even if you do start torturing me, you still won’t get shit. Me and my boys were trained to withstand anything you S.H.I.E.L.D. fuckers would throw at us.”

C. Viper frowned a bit and glanced over at Wanda, who met her gaze. The agent simply nodded and got up from the chair, allowing the psychic to take her seat. “Ooh, worse cop time, is it?” The soldier chuckled and was returned with the never ending stare from the pale girl.

“Remember when you said you can withstand anything the agents give you?” Wanda asked slowly as her eyes began glowing red. “I am not an agent.”

In the other room, everyone watched as the soldier suddenly let out a blood curdling scream. He began thrashing around his chair, trying to pull at the cuffs that held his wrists still. “GET THEM AWAY! GET THEM AWAY!” He shouted breathlessly while his head shook violently. His eyes were watery and tinted with a faded red color and they shot around the room, looking at things that weren’t even there. “THEY’RE ALL OVER ME! GET THEM OFF ME!” He began banging his head against the table and C. Viper noticed the skin to his hands were tearing off the more he pulled at the handcuffs.

“Wanda.” The agent simply said and the telekinetic girl nodded as her red aura faded away. The soldier was breathing heavily in and out with his head pressed against the table that had been stained with his own blood.

“You gonna talk now?” C. Viper asked while sliding the folder back towards her, frowning at some of the blood having been spilled on it.

“Hell’s Kitchen.” The soldier finally said in between breaths. “Got an outpost there. That’s all I know, I swear...”

The agent smirked and began making a mental note of the information she was getting. “What’s there?” She asked again.

“It’s a facility hidden underground, some ruins of some old place, I don’t know…” He explained quickly. “I’ve only been there once or twice, I can’t remember how it’s all laid out.”

Wanda’s eyes glew red again and she tapped inside the operative’s mind as soon as he mentioned the layout. She sorted through his memories and found several of the soldier walking through the ruins. It resembled catacombs of some sorts with several pieces of machinery added inside alongside soldiers and scientists working about. “You are part of the… Mundus Unit?” She said, noticing a patch that a few soldiers wore in the memory.

The name caught Dante and Trish’s ears and they looked at one another face to face. _It could just be a coincidence... right?_ The demoness thought to herself as they both returned their attention to the interrogation.

The man didn’t even have to answer and C. Viper called in a few soldiers (along with a medic that looked over his self inflicted wounds) to take him away. As Wanda and Viper were seen leaving, the lights in the darkened room lit up and everyone began leaving the room. Everyone met up in a planning room filled with computers manned by agents along with a central holographic machine centered in the room that displayed information for all to see.

“We’ll need a small strike team to infiltrate this outpost and find out more about this 'Mundus Unit.'” Chuck stated as he pointed over the holograms showing a map of Hell’s Kitchen. “Any volunteers?”

“That’s why I called them.” C. Viper said, gesturing towards the Devil May Cry team (said members having mixed expressions upon being called.)

“You know just because we’re the main characters doesn’t mean we gotta do everything.” complained Wade, though no one was exactly sure what he meant and chose to ignore it.

Dante sighed and crossed his arms, knowing he really didn’t have a choice now. “So what’s the plan?”

“We’ll drop you guys off in Hell’s Kitchen and have Wanda here lead you to the entrance of the outpost.” Lilith explained. “She’s looked into the mind of that Mundus Unit operative and knows her way around the place now, she’ll be a lot of help in this mission.”

Pietro perked up at this being said and turned to his twin sister. “You are going alone?” He asked, mostly meaning ‘alone’ as ‘without him.’

“Yes.” Wanda instantly responded to her brother. “Is that problem?”

“I should come too.” The speedster said and looked over at C. Viper for approval.

“They’re going into underground catacombs. It’s cramped, not a lot of running space there.” The agent pointed out. “Besides, I would like if you were to help out Chuck, Lilith and Anti-Venom instead, they’re heading over to another outpost somewhere in the coast of Africa.”

Pietro looked about the faces in the room contemplatively. “ _So what do you say, kid?_ ” asked Anti-Venom with a patient, toothy grin.

The twins looked at one another once again. “It is okay. I will be with Trish and Lady.” Wanda assured her brother.

“Heh. You know, I'm twelve minutes older than you.” His twin giggled at his response. “But okay then, I will go with you two.” He said as he looked back up to Chuck, Lilith and Anti-Venom.

“Nice! Welcome aboard!” Lilith cheered excitedly.

“With you along, buddy, I’m sure we’ll be done in seconds.” Chuck joked and the speedster scoffed but smiled.

\---

Wanda entered another room where the Devil May Cry team were readying their gear up. In her hands was a pile of clothes that she set down on the table near them. “I have learned from that man’s memories that this Mundus Unit has many eyes everywhere. I thought it would help if we were to disguise ourselves as we go in. So we do not arouse suspicion.” She said while dusting her hands off.

“You got a point there!” Lady agreed and rummaged through the pile of clothing.

Wade didn’t bother looking through the clothes, as he was content with his well worn red colored shearling plaid jacket, jeans and black sneakers. “Thankfully, people lately only know who the mask is, not the handsome celebrity-looking man beneath it.” He commented while tucking said mask inside his jacket’s pocket. “Since I got my ugly mug fixed up, they won’t even know it’s me before I waste ‘em!”

Dante raised a silver brow as he lifted up a faded black hooded coat with red colored lapels and sleeves. “Not in a million years.” He scoffed and before tossing it back into the pile, Trish shot him a deadly look.

“Everyone and their mother probably knows who you are from that bright red coat of your’s.” The demoness said harshly. “Now shut up and wear it.”

The half demon let out a defeated sigh and threw on the black coat after setting aside his own red one. The coat strangely fit well with his tank top, black jeans and boots, though that didn’t stop from Lady and Wade snickering at the sight of him.

“This should help.” Wanda said as red aura floated around Dante’s hair, alongside a hair tie, which confused him. She ended up tying the demon hunter’s long silver hair into a short ponytail. “Now wear hood and no one would be able to tell it is you.”

Dante felt around the small ponytail with mixed feelings. “Why the hell do I gotta get the most work put on me?” He asked aloud, “Wade’s not even wearing a disguise and Lady’s just wearing a hat.”

“It’s a cool hat.” Lady retorted with her arms crossed. She had only wore a large sun hat with round sunglasses. “Just be glad I didn’t grab the sombrero.”

The half demon rolled his ice blue eyes and looked over at Trish. “And what about you?”

“I think the hair’s enough for me.” The demoness smirked as she played with her now short scarlet hair. She briefly considered using her magic to properly disguise herself as a friend she knew by the name of Gloria, but she decided in the end that was too much work.

“And they won’t ever suspect me.” Wanda said after throwing on a simple olive colored windbreaker over her black holey jeans and boots. “Let us go.” She led the team out through the door and later into a docking bay filled with various aircraft.

The team boarded the Quinjet and Ray once again greeted them warmly. “You guys might as well hire me, I’m practically your personal pilot now.” The pilot laughed as they started up the controls.

Trish chuckled as she took the seat next to Ray. “I’m willing to bet S.H.I.E.L.D.’s paychecks are way better than ours.”

Wade took his seat and pulled out one of his katana blades to begin sharpening it with a stone. Dante sat next to his friend and asked for another sharpening stone and the merc was quick to grab one out from his bag. “Glad you understand the need to keep blades in tip topsy turvey shapey wapey.” He said with a smirk, briefly watching as the half demon began sharpening Rebellion with the stone.

“What can I say, I love me some swords.” Dante said, checking himself out in the reflection of his own blade.

“Swords are overrated!” scoffed Lady as she took her seat across from the two alongside Wanda. “All you really need is a good gun.” She balanced Kalina Ann on her legs and began wiping it with a rag.

“You kiddin’ me? We got guns too.” The half demon backfired with a short snort then resumed sharpening.

The demon huntress rolled her dual colored eyes. “I bet lugging around those metal toothpicks can be a real fucking hassle.”

“Yep that is true, my friend!” Wade instantly agreed as he halted his sharpening for a moment to hold his katana blade in two hands before Lady. “But you know what makes it worth it? It’s memorable.”

Dante hummed and nodded, “Oh yes.”

“'Oh yes' indeed.” Wade said with a smile. “You ever whip out a couple swords at your ex-girlfriend’s wedding? Because I have, and trust me, they will never _ever_ forget it.”

“Did you slice cake with it?” asked Wanda curiously.

The mercenary looked over at the telekinetic girl for a moment and smiled. “Sure. Let’s say that. Sliced up a bunch of _cakes_ that were filled to the brim with _strawberry_ _filling_.”

“That sounds nice.” She said softly. “Perhaps we can get cake after this?”

“Strawberry cake does sound good.” Dante said, returning the sharpening stone to Wade’s bag and relaxing back.

“Oh please, if it has even the slightest hint of strawberry in it, you’ll eat anything.” Lady accused with a dark brow raised.

The half demon shrugged his shoulders. “You’re not wrong.”

Trish walked back, smiling at Lady before she took the seat next to her. “Ray says we’ll reach Hell’s Kitchen in about half an hour or so.” She explained as she set the Sword of Sparda next to her.

“Cool.” Dante said with his eyes closed. “The faster we get this done the quicker I can go to sleep.”

“You’re already halfway there anyway.” Trish retorted with narrowed eyes at the half demon.

“You know what’s funny?” Wade began, catching the others’ attention. “We’re demon hunters… and we’re heading over to Hell’s Kitchen!” He was met with silence and his expression fell, he then busied himself with sharpening his other katana. “That’s the last time I try to cook up a funny joke.” He grumbled to himself.

Some time passed and Ray announced to the team that they were nearing their destination. They activated a stealth mode to the Quinjet and it instantly turned invisible from the outside. “I’ll make the LZ on a rooftop near the area where the outpost is located at.” The pilot told them and shifted the jet to slowly lower atop a small building’s rooftop.

The Quinjet’s hatch opened up and allowed the team out. Trish told her pilot to stick to the skies and report anything of concern while they went in. “Lead the way, Wanda.” Lady said to the psychic after strapping her rocket launcher behind her.

Wanda stepped cautiously over the edge of the roof they were situated at and looked around the area. It was getting dark already and it wouldn’t be much help trying to find what they were looking for at night. “If I remember correctly…” She began as she recalled the memories she saw in her head. “There is always specific dark colored van that enters an alleyway of one of the buildings around this area.” She looked a few blocks down the street and saw a building very familiar now. “That one. Follow me.” The demon hunters watched as the telekinetic girl boosted herself up with her powers and onto the next building.

“Alright, let’s get this party started.” Dante said with a smirk as he hopped over to the next rooftop with ease. Trish lifted up Lady bridal style and followed suite, with Wade tracking closely behind with his teleporter.

They came to a halt when Wanda did as well. She gestured them to enter a lower position as she carefully peaked out from the edge of the roof. “Any second now.” She said quietly and after a beat the same van she talked of entered the alleyway. The team watched as armed personnel poured from the back of the van, some carrying large military cases and other machinery.

“They will open up some sort of entrance at this point now.” Wanda spoke, her eyes closely following the movements of each figure.

Just as the psychic said, two of the armed personnel pushed aside a large dumpster, which revealed a trapdoor underneath it. The team felt a collective tension when a ghastly figure shot out from the trapdoor, but the soldiers were quick to back away from its grasp. “A demonic spell?” Trish whispered in disbelief.

“I did not see that in the man’s memories…” Wanda said, feeling her breath falter a bit. The memories of what she faced back in her home country still was fresh in her mind, but she tried her best to focus on the matters at hand now.

They continued to watch as another soldier stepped in with what appeared to be a rusted key in their hands. The soldier held the key cautiously over the trapdoor and the ghost-like apparition instantly appeared and swiped the key out of the operative’s hand then disappeared from site. The soldier lifted the trapdoor open and shot a thumbs up to their comrades.

“Door is open. We can go now--” Wanda was interrupted when yelling began to erupt from the armed personnel below.

The team watched as a shadowy figure jump from the darkness and suddenly attack the soldiers. The figure first struck a baton like weapon over the collarbone of one operative, letting out a sickening crack sound from the bone. As gunshots began to fire, the figure rolled out of the way as it swiped up a fallen gun and threw it at another soldier, knocking them down to the ground as it struck their throat. The figure dodged more bullets as they ran up against the wall and used a ladder to hold them up for a split moment as they landed a double legged kick to the chest of a soldier.

The figure sidestepped a melee attack from a soldier and for a brief second they were seen in the moonlight. It was a man dressed in a burgundy and black suit that resembled lightweight armor. His face was hidden via a cowl with glowing red eyes and pointed horns, which reminded the demon hunters of a devil. The masked man let out a grunt as he brandished a long red baton from a thigh strap and struck it against a soldier’s head. He turned around and separated the baton in two pieces and threw one forward to knock a gun out of a operative’s hands.

The masked man ran towards the operative and caught his baton that had bounced against the wall, then lowered himself to the ground to perform a sweep kick and took his enemy off their feet. He slammed his two batons down directly to the soldier’s face, breaking the lenses of their gasmask and knocking them out. Another soldier rushed him with a knife and the masked man was quick to block the attack by locking his enemy’s arm in place and bend it the opposite way. The soldier let out a cry of pain along with the sound of bone breaking, which was all quickly silenced when the masked man slammed his baton against the soldier’s throat.

The figure looked about the group of soldiers he had knocked out cold and spun his batons in hand before placing them back in his thigh strap. He looked upwards, specifically the rooftop the devil hunters were hiding out on. “How can I help you?” He asked them in-between low breaths. Stepping out of the shadows revealed he had been bleeding from the nose and had several cuts and bruises across his exposed lower face.

“No way!” Deadpool squealed rather loudly. His teammates looked over at him and noticed he somehow got into his costume without them even noticing. He disappeared in a flash of red and reappeared next to the masked man below, startling him for a bit as evidenced his hand quickly holding onto his batons. “The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, right? I thought you were just a myth!”

“Call me Daredevil.” The masked man introduced, easing his fingers off his batons after sensing this other masked person’s oddly friendly behavior. “What’re you people doing here?” He asked without looking, specifically to the others who had jumped down to meet him as well.

“These soldiers...” Wanda gestured to the people on the ground, some seething in pain, most knocked out. “They are part of suspicious unit we are investigating.”

Daredevil turned to the psychic girl with interest. “So am I. Been at this for a few nights now.”

“Well, the more people the better!” Lady said cheerfully and shot her hand out towards the masked man. “I’m Lady.” She introduced then nodded over to her friends. “That’s Trish, Wanda, Dante and Wade.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be disguising ourselves?” Dante asked with a strained expression.

“Nah.” Lady scoffed and threw away her sun hat and glasses, “That’s just you.”

The half demon scowled at the demon huntress and removed his hood. “Anyways, we’re wasting time. Let’s get this over with.” He spoke as he walked towards the trapdoor the soldiers had opened up.

“Hold on.” Daredevil called, causing everyone to stop in place. “If you want me to work with you, and you to work with me, then we have to do this my way.”

Dante raised a silver brow at that and crossed his arms. “And what exactly is 'your way?'”

“No killing.” The masked man responded sharply. “You all have weapons on you except the girl here.” He gestured one hand towards Wanda. “We’re here to find out what these people are doing and if it comes down to fighting, we take them all out non lethally, understand?”

Deadpool let out a scoff hearing this. “And what if we do end up killing someone?”

Daredevil stepped up to the mercenary and met him face to face. “Then you’ll have a problem on your hands way worse than these gunmen.” He said coldly.

“Oooh-kay then.” The Merc with the Mouth said sarcastically, raising up his arms with a shrug. He watched the masked man walk away and into the trapdoor. “Jeez, you think someone is the coolest person ever and then you actually meet them and they turn out to be a huge asshole.” He said to his friends after a beat.

“I heard that.” Daredevil’s voice echoed from the darkness.

The Devil May Cry team looked about one another in contemplative silence. Dante shrugged and walked into the trapdoor, following the masked man’s trail without any objections. “Come on, Wade.”

Deadpool clicked his tongue as his fingers tapped away at the guns strapped on his person. “Ooh, if only I was more of an asshole.” He said to himself as silent as possible before he stepped into the trapdoor.

“I sense there is good in him. That 'Daredevil' man.” Wanda spoke quietly to Trish and Lady as they entered the trapdoor together. “I trust him.”

“Anyone who tells me not to kill people end up on my bad list real quick.” The devil huntress scoffed out with her gloved hands in her jacket pockets.

Trish didn’t say anything in response, only looked back out at the moon outside for a single moment. She was reminded of when she entered the caverns in Sokovia and a cold chill went through her body. Lady noticed the demoness’ troubled breathing and promptly squeezed her hand. The raven haired woman offered a smile to her girlfriend, “It’ll be okay. We’re here for you.”

Wanda turned her gaze to the troubled demoness and smiled as well. “We go together this time. And no one is left behind.”

“Thank you. Both of you.” Trish said thankfully, feeling her breath ease on her chest. “Let’s go.”

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: matt murdock, the man without fear: daredevil. from the... daredevil series. based on his appearance in the netflix daredevil series.


	27. Hail To The King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante, Trish, Lady, Deadpool and Wanda traverse through caverns of an unknown enemy alongside a newly made ally: Daredevil, The Man Without Fear.

Daredevil led the way down the stone steps, the sound of their footsteps echoing through the caverns as the group went deeper and deeper. The masked man focused on his heightened senses when he tapped the edge of his baton against the wall, creating a radar sense only he can see. After all, the man was blind and had to purely rely on his other senses that had been enhanced to superhuman levels.

“If we continue straight we should enter catacombs.” Wanda whispered loud enough for her allies to hear.

“What kind of military unit makes base in some creepy caves underground anyway?” asked Lady with a chill.

“One’s with major problems.” Trish sneered with a frown.

“All I know is they’re causing trouble and I want them out of my city.” Daredevil said gruffly.

The group finally made it into a more large room with many cavern entrances similar to the one they had entered through. It was still dark inside with the exception of some moonlight managing to peak through several cracks in the ceiling. In the center of the room was a set of stairs that circled downwards into utter darkness.

Lady pulled out a flashlight and shined it around the area and then the stairs. “Guess that’s where we’re going, right?”

“Might as well put up a sign that says ‘Die’ or something.” Dante said after observing the staircase consumed by shadows.

“Hold on.” Daredevil said in a hushed tone as he felt a presence. “There’s people coming.”

Trish looked back and forth with confusion. “But I don’t hear anyone?”

The masked man wasted no time and ushered them to quickly hide in the darkness and after some time scrambling around they found their hiding places. After a few seconds passed multiple figures dressed in dark robes silently appeared from several other hallways. Their faces were completely obscured by darkness and their tucked into each robe sleeve as they walked in some type of prayer motion. There were a few robed figures carrying some sort of cage covered up with a heavy blanket. They all converged into the central staircase and eventually disappeared in the darkness below. The team waited another set of moments before emerging from their hiding spots, now with more questions than ever.

“Well that’s not creepy or anything.” Deadpool said sarcastically as he stared down the stairs with his fingers tapping away at the base of his carbine, ready to sling it out at any moment to fire at the robed figures that gave him a cold chill down his spine.

“It gets worse.” Daredevil commented, catching everyone’s attention. “I heard something from the cage they were carrying.”

Dante raised a brow, he hadn’t heard anything. “What was it?”

“Sobbing.” The masked man answered through his teeth. “ A _child_ sobbing.”

Trish and Lady looked at one another with concern, while Wanda lowered her gaze down. “I felt it too.” She spoke carefully. “The life of a child, but it felt distant...”

“Then let’s hurry up!” Deadpool ushered the others as he took point walking down the steps. Usually the missions they go on were simple demon hunting. But adding the possibility of children being hurt in any way by whomever they were up against simply made the mercenary’s blood boil. “We’re getting to the bottom of this…” He paused for a moment. “Pun not intended for once.”

Daredevil and Wanda were right behind the mercenary, with Lady and Trish following after. Before he entered the stone staircase, Dante did a double take behind him for a moment. The half demon glared around the empty room, sensing something strange at first. He proceeded into the stairs while keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Why was this supposed military outpost so empty anyway?

Wanda had been asking herself the same question. The memories she peered into clearly showed a more lively outpost filled with personnel, but it was strangely barren aside from the mysterious robed figures. She secretly hoped they hadn’t fallen into a trap of some sorts, the last thing she would want is to be found dead in these dark caverns.

The group went deeper down the stairs that seemed to be going on forever. After some time, Daredevil suddenly halted and raised his fist. “I hear something.” He said and crouched down, tilting his head over the edge of the stairs. “Sounds like… chanting.”

“Chanting?” Trish echoed with confusion. “This is getting weirder by the second.”

“Better be singing a song about how hard I’ll kick their asses.” Deadpool muttered from further below, he hadn’t stopped a single step the whole way down.

“Be ready. We’re close now.” Daredevil warned his allies as he brandished his steel batons.

Wanda nodded in agreement. “I sense many people down there. I count perhaps...”

“30.” Daredevil finished after he tapped the end of his baton on a step. “More than the robed men we saw, which counted 10.”

“Good thing the amount of bullets I carry on me surpass that number.” Lady said with a smirk as she continued down with the rest.

“No one has to die.” The masked man curtly responded. “We still don’t know what these people are doing.”

“Or even what we’re up against.” Trish added with a shrug. “You’re smelling that too, Dante?”

The half demon rubbed his chin in thought. “Demons.”

“Demons?” Daredevil repeated with a brow raised under his cowl.

“Bingo.” Dante confirmed. “What, you don’t believe in ‘em or something?”

“No, I do.” The masked man said, slightly surprising the demon hunters. “Never met one, but I believe in them. I am a Catholic, after all.”

The group finally reached the end of the stairs and the mysterious chanting was more audible now. There was a light coming from another section just the end of the small hallway they were in. Daredevil pressed his back up against the wall and tapped his baton once against it. The echoes from the tapping went across the next room and he was able to see what was in it for a moment in a radar-like sense. The others looked at his action with puzzled looks as he did it a few more times.

“Big room. A bunch of people in a circle…” He began and then tapped one more time. “They’re all standing before something in the middle, shaped like a box.”

“How do you know that?” Lady questioned. “You got a radar sense or some shit?”

“Something like that.” The masked man replied simply, causing the devil huntress to shoot him a confused look.

“So does anyone have a plan that isn’t ‘rush inside and beat up everyone?’” Deadpool asked around. He was met with silence and he smiled, “Good, because that plan is the best plan.”

“Let’s do this then.” Dante said impatiently while gripping the hilt of Rebellion.

“If you’re gonna shoot. Shoot to cripple, not to kill.” Daredevil added in, ignoring the sound of annoyed sighs and tongue clicking.

“For humans, yeah sure.” The half demon admitted and then he turned to the masked man for a moment. “But when it comes to demons. Don’t try to get in our way.”

“Wait… something is wrong.” Wanda said in a hushed tone after feeling something concerning. She slowly inched her view out from the corner to see the room ahead. Her eyes widened when the blanket was removed from the square object in the center, revealing a disheveled little girl trapped inside a cage like an animal. The child’s expression was blank and they were slowly picked up from the cage, then set inside what appeared to be demonic summoning circle surrounded by eerie candles.

The telekinetic girl panicked when she saw one of the robed figures holding a ceremonial blade above the child’s chest. She shot her hand out and her magic surrounded the robed figure in the center. With a hard thrust of her hand she sent the figure crashing into the walls of the cavern room, alerting every other person inside the room. “They were trying to kill a child!” She shouted to her allies, now knowing that their chance at sneaking in and out had been gone.

“Oh that is it!” Deadpool ran past Wanda and after one good look at the room, he was able to teleport into the center where the child was. He stood over her for a second before being attacked by the robed figures that wielded blades. “No one is hurting kids when I’m around!” He exclaimed while brandishing his katanas and facing off against multiple opponents.

Multiple soldiers poured in the room with their weapons trained on the mercenary who was too busy fighting off the robed figures. Daredevil front flipped into a soldier and struck a downwards kick to their back, throwing them off balance and accidentally shooting their comrades. The masked man pulled the weapon out of the soldier’s hand and spun around to throw it directly into the head of another operative.

The chanting from the robed figures strangely continued even if they were in battle. Dante and Trish ran into the center area and pulled out their respective blades to combat the other robed figures alongside Deadpool. The mercenary spotted another group of soldiers enter the room and he unhooked a flash bang grenade from his belt and chucked it forward. The explosive detonated and blinded the operatives long enough for Wanda to step in and blast them all away with her red magic.

The telekinetic girl turned around and shot her hand forward to capture multiple robed figures in red aura. She grit her teeth and used her telekinesis to brutally slam them against the ground and walls of the entire room. There was a robed figure sneaking up behind her with its blade prepared to strike, but Lady ran in and tackled it away from her friend.

The demon huntress saw a glimpse of red eyes flashing from the darkness under the robes and it made her lips form into a wicked smile. “Demons!” She announced with a hearty laugh while pulling out her Skorpion and firing wildly into the downed robed figure.

“What are you doing?!” Daredevil demanded while ducking down to avoid a knife swipe from a soldier. He grabbed a hold of the soldier’s arm and twisted it around, then drove his fist into the elbow and effectively snapped the arm. “Cripple not--” He heard inhuman growling underneath the gasmask the soldier was wearing, which also had emanated red glowing eyes from the lenses.

Demons began ripping themselves out of the bodies of soldiers all around the room. While the robed figures removed their cloaks and revealed themselves to be ghoul-like devils as well. The Devil May Cry instantly held nothing back as soon as the demons revealed themselves.

Trish sidestepped an attack from a ghoul demon and thrusted an electrified fist right through its back. She heaved the corpse into another set of demons before the body could disappear fully, knocking them all down and allowing her to slam her fists into the floor and send a wave of electricity into them.

A gorgon demon whipped its tail towards Daredevil who performed a quick side flip to dodge it. He had never faced demons before but the masked man was quick to adapt to this new enemy as he sensed similar pressure points and bone structure in most of the other devils in the room. After dodging the tail attack he leaped towards the gorgon with his two batons in hand then slammed them from both sides of the demon’s head. He drove the batons into the collarbones of the creature and then into their ribs, effectively breaking them all apart.

The masked man performed a double roundhouse kick into the gorgon demon and it was sent crashing directly into the gunfire of Lady wielding her Skorpion submachine gun. The demon huntress reloaded her weapon while using a kukri blade to slice apart one of the many legs of a half humanoid half spider-like demon. She set her submachine gun back on her belt and pulled out another kukri blade and dashed towards the spider demon, hacking at each of its legs and lower spider body with quick efficiency. After the demon fell to the ground after having the last of its legs chopped off, it met its end almost immediately when Lady drove both of her blades into the eye sockets of the demon.

Dante swung Rebellion around with precision, cutting down dozens of demons within seconds. “Yahoo!” He cheered and jumped forward with a spin, landing his broadsword through an unsuspecting demon’s head. He held onto the end of Rebellion and sent a strong double kick to the jaw of a cyclops demon. The demon hunter released his grip on his blade and landed in a roll, brandishing his twin pistols and unleashing a haze of lead into the head of the cyclops until it had popped like a balloon.

Wanda picked up a demon with her magic and threw it to the side, where it was sliced in two by Deadpool with one of his katana blades. The two walked past one another and slapped each other’s hands before looking about the handiwork around the room. The mercenary crouched down to where the little girl was situated at and shook her gently enough for her eyes to flutter open slightly.

“You alright, kiddo?” He questioned with a tone of worry.

“Heartbeats stable enough.” Daredevil noted after reading the child’s heart rate. “Luckily we came before any real damage could be done.”

The little girl rubbed her dark eyes and slowly sat up, looking about the room at the cast of interesting characters around her. “A-Are you... angels?” She asked everyone in a stutter, a noticeable light sparking in her eyes.

The group looked at one another for a brief moment, not noticing Wanda kneel down before the child with a patient smile. “Yes we are. What is your name?” She asked while locking her hands together.

“S-Sarah.” She answered, attempting to return the smile to the older woman before her.

“Nice to meet you, Sarah. I am Wanda and these are my friends.” Wanda introduced herself and the others. “We will get you out of here but first, is there any other people here that could use our help?”

The child quickly nodded, “Y-Yes. The monsters put us all in a dark room that way.” She pointed a finger to a dark hallway.

“Alrighty then, kiddo!” Deadpool said as he picked up the little girl in his arms, dusting off her gown briefly. “Show us the way while we keep you safe.”

Sarah held tight on the mercenary for safety and nodded, while he held up one handgun in another arm and strided forward into the hallway. The rest closely followed, with Lady shining her flashlight down to illuminate the darkness

“Can you believe this?” Trish asked quietly enough so the little girl couldn’t hear her. “Child sacrifice. What kind of sickos are we dealing with?”

Daredevil’s fists tightened in his gloves. “True demons.”

Dante walked with a dark expression, quietly thinking to himself. Mundus Unit. Demons. Unholy sacrifice. This was all starting to come together in a way he did not like one bit. He hoped deep inside it still all just happened to be a coincidence and they were simply facing off a crazed demonic cult or something of that deal, but a tiny feeling in the back of his head suggested something far worse.

They reached another hallway lined with rusted locked cells. Daredevil tapped his baton on the ground and informed the others he detected multiple people, most were still alive, some near death, and a few that were already gone. “Let’s get them out now.” He said to his allies after opening a cell that held another cowering child.

The others spread out to each cell and released every person trapped inside it, while Deadpool kept watch from both sides of the hall to ensure no demon would attempt a surprise attack. The people they rescued were mostly children, some barely teenagers and adults. They all were disheveled and starved but were all absolutely thankful they had finally been rescued.

“I’ll get these people outta here.” Deadpool offered while letting Sarah down and holding her tiny hand instead.

Lady pulled out her Skorpion and nodded, “And I’ll back you up, Wade.” She turned to the others with sharp eyes, “You guys find whoever is responsible for all of this and kick their fucking ass, got it?”

“Can do.” Trish said and planted a small kiss on the raven haired woman’s cheek before joining Dante, Wanda and Daredevil.

“As soon as you two get them out of here, go down 38th and stay in the lights. Flag down the first officer you see.” Daredevil advised the Lady and Deadpool before the two groups began going opposite ways in hurried steps.

“And save some for us!” Deadpool called to his friends for a moment. “First thing I want is for that sicko to meet the end of my katanas!”

\---

Inside a secret room filled with machinery, the wooden doors were kicked open and Daredevil flipped through it and landed a dropkick into a surprised soldier. He entered a roll and threw both of his batons into a pair of operatives’ guts, then caught both of his weapons while he performed another side flip to dodge gunfire.

Wanda threw her hand upwards and flung multiple soldiers straight to the ceiling, then allowed them to drop back down to the ground from gravity. She spotted several more operatives raising their weapons and she pushed a palm forward, sending a blast of red magic to completely disassemble the weapons they held in the hands and knock them down.

Several demons ripped themselves out of a few of the bodies and attacked Wanda and Daredevil, only for the beasts to be shot down by Trish and Dante. The group took a moment to oversee the rest of the downed soldiers with no sign of any demonic creature appearing from them. Daredevil in particular sensed the ashes of the fallen demons fading away. He had to compromise his rule this time when it came to the demons.

The masked man ripped off the gasmask of one soldier and sent a hard fist directly into his mouth, breaking some of his teeth. He turned the operative around and slammed his elbow against the back of his neck, causing him to cough out the broken teeth onto the floor. “No suicide pills are getting you out of this.” He said through his grit teeth as he turned the soldier around to face him again. “You’re gonna start talking now.”

“Y-You think a couple idiots in silly costumes can stop our King?” The soldier said with a gasp of laughter.

“Who’s your ‘king?’” Dante asked with his brows narrowed.

The soldier didn’t even acknowledge the half demon, only showing a wicked bloody grin with eyes that shot all over the room. “We were trapped in the darkness until our King arrived and freed us. He gave us knowledge, sanctuary, and power. Hail to the King.” He continued, “He will show us the way. He will show us the way. He will show us the way.” The man seemed to repeat the phrase over and over.

Daredevil was cocking his fist back for another strike, as with Wanda who was preparing to simply look into the mind of the crazed man. That was until a gunshot interrupted the both of them, alerting the entire group of what had happened. The soldier’s head was completely blown from the top, some blood and skull fragments spilling on the masked man’s suit and he grit his teeth before releasing his hold on the man. They all looked up to see a figure in the shadows holding a smoking handgun in their hands.

The figure stepped out of the darkness, appearing as a human with dark sunglasses and burgundy hair cut short, dressed in a fitted grey blue suit with a white tie over a black dress shirt. There was a still, almost lifeless expression on their face as their gloved hands stayed trained on the four before them. “It was only a matter of time until one of my followers would end up being captured.” They spoke in a strangely soothing, but equally skin crawling tone.

“Followers?” Trish echoed and her eyes narrowed towards the suited figure. “So you’re the one behind this sick cult?”

“Please, calling us a cult is an insult.” They responded, clicking their tongue. “My organization is made up of hundreds upon hundreds of beings with different ranges of species and radicalness. But we are brought together by the same goal and motivation. Everything we do, we do it for him.”

“Your ‘king,’ right?” Dante said with a fake smirk. No matter what he felt pure disgust for this person, which was equally shared with his friends. “Sorry to say this, but looks like everything you’ve been building up will come to an end right here and now.” He began firing his handguns at the suited figure, only for them to disappear in a strange distortion of reality.

Daredevil brandished his batons and tapped them together to detect where their enemy was, while Trish and Wanda braced themselves and got ready to fight. Their enemy suddenly appeared behind them again and struck a palm into the back of Trish and Daredevil, flinging them across the room.

“You all can call me Alex Wesker.” The figure introduced with a mock bow, before teleporting out of the way to avoid a blast of red magic from Wanda. They reappeared again to the side of Dante and dodged his gunfire once more, then thrusted their fist to his chest and sent him crashing into some machinery. “But I doubt you will be around to long enough to tell anyone else.”

“Alex… Wesker?” Dante echoed through breaths. He remembered the conversation Chuck and Chris had with Albert Wesker about the mad scientist having siblings.

Wanda summoned her magic and wrapped it around Alex, then slammed them back and forth into the walls around the room. “I do not care who you are!” She said through her teeth. “We will put an end to your plans!” Her eyes widened when her enemy disappeared again.

“You can try.” Alex mocked, having teleported right behind Wanda and pressed their handgun against the back of her head. A baton was flung towards them and knocked them backwards.

The telekinetic was quick enough to use her magic to stop the bullet from firing and she held their adversary in the red mist again. Daredevil ran in and caught his baton in mid air while performing a flying kick towards Alex. They were sent crashing down onto the ground but had grabbed a hold of the masked man’s foot.

Alex chucked Daredevil to the side and teleported out of the way to avoid a lighting strike from Trish. The demoness sensed Wesker teleport behind her and she ducked down to avoid a roundhouse kick. “Bad move!” She exclaimed and drove a lighting fueled fist into an uppercut, landing it right below the jaw of Alex.

While in mid air, Dante spun around and threw Rebellion straight into them. His broadsword impaled Alex and they were held in place by Wanda, who slammed them down in the ground along with Rebellion that kept them pinned down further. “Now you’re getting me angry.” Alex said with grit teeth while they gripped their hands around the sharp blade impaling them.

Wanda released her hold on Wesker for a moment and focused her magic into looking into their mind. A flash of multiple images hit her like speeding train and she let out a pained scream before crumpling to the floor. “Wanda!” Trish called out and ran over to the telekinetic girl who was grasping at her hair. “Wanda, what’s wrong?!”

They had all been too distracted to not notice Alex had managed to pull Rebellion out of their chest. They had a slight grin as they threw the demonic broadsword towards Wanda, who had been in too much pain to notice.

Daredevil jumped into action as soon as possible used his two batons to fling the sword out of its trajectory. He landed in another roll and threw both of his melee weapons towards Alex, who backflipped to avoid the batons.

“I’ve wasted enough time playing with you fools.” Alex said while catching the batons, then throwing them towards Dante to knock Ebony and Ivory out of his hands. “You’ve already taken out most of the personnel here anyway, so I longer have no need for this facility.” They spoke while running a hand over a computer and quickly typing something in.

Alarms began blaring inside the room and Alex took another mock bow before the group. “Good luck escaping. May our King bless you on your journey into Hell.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Dante growled as he ran towards the suited person, but they teleported out of the sight. His hands balled into fists as he struck the wall beside him in anger.

“Dante, we have to get out of here!” Trish called while lifting Wanda in her arms. The telekinetic girl had fainted and was unable to move from here on.

The half demon nodded and picked up the two batons on the floor and tossed them to Daredevil. The masked man caught them in and thanked him, then allowed the demon hunter first through the door, but he didn’t leave yet before swiping a few files from a nearby desk. He ran to catch up with the others who were now rushing as fast as they could out of the caverns.

The group made it to the stairs and looked up at all the steps they would have to traverse through. “We’re not gonna make it in time!” Trish said hopelessly.

A flash of red appeared and Deadpool materialized into view from a teleport. He held out his hand to the demoness who took it immediately. “Everyone grab on!” He called and the others did as said. The mercenary fiddled around with his teleporter belt, pushing it to its limits and in an instant they were gone almost seconds before the caverns caved in from explosions.

\---

The group appeared in a massive red flash somewhere in the streets further below. Deadpool’s teleporter belt began to short circuit and he quickly tore it off of his waist before it had exploded from overuse. “Well… shit.” He said, defeated. He gingerly picked up the device in his hands and examined the damage closely.

Lady ran over to hug Trish in an instant. She pulled away to check on Wanda and was relieved to see the telekinetic girl was simply out cold. The group was taken out of their relief when an explosion rang nearby, specifically where the trapdoor they had entered through was located at. Cars all around the area began to blare their alarms, along with dogs barking and people scrambling and shouting around.

“No civilians were caught in the blast…” Daredevil said thankfully after tapping on the ground with his baton, allowing his radar sense to pass over the area of detonation.

“Jesus... what the fuck happened down there?” Lady asked as she watched the fires spread out from the explosion. Sirens of fire trucks and police cars were heard not too far down the road.

Daredevil pressed the folders he had taken back in the room to the devil huntress. “This could help.” He offered.

She opened up one of the folders and found multiple documents. They were all written in some strange, unrecognizable language unfortunately. “Dammit, I can’t read this.” She cursed silently. The characters were nothing like she had ever seen before.

“We’ll run it over with Maya when we get back.” Trish said, glancing over at the young woman she held in her arms for a moment. “The sooner we get back the sooner we can find out what the hell happened to Wanda too.”

“Don’t think no S.H.I.E.L.D. database can translate this chicken scratch.” Deadpool said after looking over the documents himself.

“We got a name. That’s all we need.” Dante spoke up, catching the others’ attention. “Alex Wesker.”

Deadpool removed his mask and visibly showed his confusion. “Alex Wesker?”

“I’m calling in Ray, we gotta get all of this information back as soon as possible.” Trish stated while allowing Lady to hold Wanda while she pulled up her communicator to call their pilot.

“Then you all can handle this from here, I assume.” Daredevil spoke up.

Dante shrugged, “Eh, probably.” He said rather casually. Truthfully, the talk of a ‘King’ returning was something of true concern.

“They’re out of my city. My job here is done.” The masked man said as he connected his two batons together and pointed it towards a building. The end of the baton suddenly released a grappling hook that tied itself to the edge of a roof.

“You don’t wanna stick around?” Lady asked the red clad vigilante.

“Hell’s Kitchen is as far as I go.” Daredevil informed, turning his head over to the devil hunters. “I trust you all can find this Alex Wesker and bring an end to whatever they’re trying to do. Though if any other demons find their way in my city again, trust in me that I’ll take them out myself.”

The Devil May Cry team thanked the masked man for his assistance in the mission and he returned the thanks to them as well. They watched as The Man Without Fear swing off and disappear into the darkness.

As Ray landed the Quinjet near the team, Trish and Dante looked at one another for a second. They didn’t need to talk to express their shared concern over what they had learned in this night. Memories of a demon king standing over both of them returned to them for a moment until they were both taken out of it once Deadpool and Lady called them over to board the Quinjet.

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: alexis wesker, the leader of the mundus unit and central villain of the story.


	28. Downpour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A failed mission and two captured demon hunters, the rest of the team venture into murky, flooded, rain forests filled with demons in an uncharted part of Africa on a dangerous mission to save their friends.

An old but well cared for car cruised through the streets of a city still bursting with activity despite midnight having passed hours ago. Wade was at the wheel of the vehicle as he was conversing with his partner in crime, Dante, whom had pushed his seat as further back as possible to recline properly.

“A fucking militarized demon worshipping cult, what kind of shit is that?” Wade asked in disbelief, before using one hand to dig inside a brown bag and pull up a handful of fries that he stuffed in his mouth in almost an instant.

“No idea. Whoever this Alex Wesker is they got lots of money, free time, and one messed up noggin.” Dante mused before setting his second pizza box away and picking up another one from his lap. “Atleast Wanda is doing okay now.”

“You said it.” The mercenary agreed with a nod. The telekinetic girl had been out for a few days and during it she had been murmuring strange and sometimes even haunting messages in her sleep, all relating to a 'king' of some sorts returning. “Why did that even happen to her?”

“If I had to guess right, some big wig demon lord put something in Wesker’s head and it must’ve affected the kid bad when she looked into their head. Knowledge, madness, it could’ve been anything in Wesker's head. But we know for sure there’s been some planning going on by this insane cult and Viper is working hard to translate those documents that Daredevil guy got for us.” The half demon guessed with his eyes focused upwards.

“Big wig demon lord, eh?” Wade repeated as he wiped his grease and salt stained fingers on his thigh. “Well like every other demon worshipping cult, they’re probably trying to bring back a demon lord or some shit, right? I mean why else would they be doing those crazy ass sacrifices?”

“True.” agreed Dante, his silver brows narrowing as he went into thought.

“Hey Fabio.”

“What’s up.”

Wade stopped the car briefly at a red light, said light filling up the inside of their vehicle with an eerie red color. “Do you believe in God?”

He allowed the question to break him out of deep thoughts and Dante scoffed at first, then answered rather casually, "Never met him.” He resumed munching on a slice of large pizza.

“Well, I kinda do!” The merc said and once the light turned green, he continued driving on. “I mean we waste so many assholes there’s gotta be some unlucky fuck that’s sorting them all out, right? Where else would they be?”

The demon hunter shrugged his shoulders, “Rotting in the ground, probably.”

“Well… how about the Devil?” Wade asked again, briefly glancing at this friend. “You believe in that?”

This time, Dante didn’t answer immediately. A brief memory replayed in his head of him, a couple years ago, standing before a large statue of a demon king. “Not exactly.” He finally said before continuing on. “What I think is the Devil is among us, taking many different forms. But there’s also been alot of powerful demons that called themselves the Devil, but none really lived up to the name.”

“I wonder if this so called ‘king’ Alex Wesker and their gang of weirdos keep referring to _is_ the Devil?” Wade pondered aloud. “And like Wanda warned us, these assholes are planning on bringing him back too.”

Dante grinned, “Well if it has to come down to that, let’s make the Devil cry when we meet him.”

The mercenary chuckled and he crumpled up his fast food bag before tossing it in the backseat. “Enough with the frickin’ foreshadowing and expository dialogue already! How about some music?”

“Hit it.”

Wade pressed his thumb against the button on the radio and _Daisuke_ by _El Huervo_ began to play, relaxing the mood as the two demon hunters returned to their quiet night drive back to the office.

\---

The song finally ended and Dante removed the headphones, allowing them to rest on his neck. His ears were now met with the loud turbulence and banging outside the jet he was in, the music he listened to having drowned it out before. He held up the MP3 player in his hands that belonged to his partner in crime, Wade. His ice blue eyes looked distant and he was taken out of it when a hand fell softly on his leg.

“Don’t worry.” Lilith told the half demon in a quiet, but reassuring voice. “They’re strong, they can hold out and we’re gonna get them all out of this mess, okay?”

Dante simply nodded, he didn’t meet the succubus’ scarlet colored eyes at all. He regretted letting Wade and Lady go by themselves on a mission to the outskirts of an unknown part of Africa, where a supposed Mundus Unit outpost was hidden deep in the vast jungles of the country. Sure, they were actually leading a strike team of highly trained S.H.I.E.L.D. and B.S.A.A. soldiers, but he just wished he had came along. Maybe if he did, they all wouldn’t have been captured. He tried to block out the worsening thoughts as he pocketed his friend’s music player in his pants pocket.

He looked over at Trish, just sitting across from him. She wasn’t in any better condition compared to him, he noticed her hands were shaking as she sharpened the intricate edges of the Sword of Sparda. He had guessed she was trying to distract herself, but her body language all over spelled out frantic. Trish was practically tearing her own mind apart with the bombarding thoughts of regret and fear of her girlfriend and close friend’s condition. Even if Ray was piloting the jet as fast as they could, Trish wished over and over for the jet to go faster before it was too late.

“Other than general location and what some of the boots on the ground can tell about the area, we’re still going in blind.” Chuck began aloud as he opened up a holographic map of the area Wade and Lady had been captured, a set of scattered and abandoned looking buildings nearly concealed in the rain forest. “We don’t know what to expect and since the weather outside is going to hell, sight and movement might be a problem for us. The forest is practically flooded from the downpour, so stay close and watch each other's asses every second.”

“Let’s make this quick and get Wade, Lady and whoever else is still alive out of this fucking mess.” Bulleta said while loading up her Uzi and tucking it in its holster beneath her jacket. They all had to ditch their regularly preferred clothing for proper camo uniforms and tough boots to protect them from the natural occurrences of the rain forest.

“This is Ray, arriving at drop point.” The pilot announced and the team began unbuckling themselves from their seats and gathering their items. The hatch opened and the five made their way out of the jet as quietly as possible, before Ray shifted the jet back into the air and began their watch in the skies. The group momentarily watched as the Quinjet disappear in the thick grey clouds that poured down hard on the forest below it.

“Alright, here’s the plan--” Chuck started but he was cut off by Trish immediately dashing into the forest, her boots splashing hard on the waters below her. He was going to continue until Dante and Bulleta quickly followed behind the demoness. “Okay, I guess we’re just gonna go in then.”

Lilith shrugged her shoulders and held up a communicator to her ear. “Dempsey, we’re moving in. Where’s the checkpoint?”

There was no answer for a moment until sound returned, alongside gunshots and yelling. _“The last checkpoint got overtaken by those freak bags!”_ Dempsey shouted from the other line. _“Find Kendra, Jade and Ciara, they’re the new checkpoints! Get there and fight through the swamps with them, then meet up with us in the ruins up North!”_

“Understood, we’ll be there soon.” Lilith tucked the communicator away and nodded towards Chuck. The two of them broke into a sprint to catch up with the devil hunters.

\---

The sound of the ear piercing screech of a drill winding up echoed throughout the abandoned building, what was quickly followed by it was a loud, pained scream that lasted for what seemed like an eternity. The noise came from a specific, blood soaked room. The ceiling was drenched in water and mold grew in every inch and corner, its walls crumbled and some even having gaping holes to allow a view from the jungle below. The drill stopped but the screaming didn’t falter at all.

Wade’s eyes were distant, almost misty. His mouth was left hanging open as his screaming slowly died down. There were several holes visible in some of his front teeth, thanks to a rusted drill that a Mundus Unit soldier held firmly in their hands. The mercenary’s blood was practically pouring from his mouth, alongside multiple cuts, scuffs and bruises that decorated his face. He was tied up in a wooden chair, with another captured person behind him in a similar bond, though a dirty bag concealed face.

“You done laughing yet?” The torturer asked the merc, who began coughing up his own blood and tooth fragments onto his lap.

“I…” Wade said quietly, his head was hung low and his eyes were fluttering.

The torturer set down the drill on a table near him and leaned closer to the merc. “What was that?”

“I… I just wanted to let you know you have a piece of spinach in between your teeth.” Wade whispered to the man’s ear. “It’s been bothering me this whole time and I just wanted to let you know--” A fist was delivered to his nose and his head flew back from the strike.

“You think everything’s a joke, huh?” The soldier asked as he wiped the blood stains from his knuckles on his combat vest. “Well, let’s see if you think this is funny.” He nodded over to another Mundus Unit operative who went outside of the room.

“I already think this is funny!” Wade chuckled, smiling wide despite the immense pain from his drilled in teeth. “You know what else is funny? The dentist I used to go to as a kid looked just like this place!” He turned his head over to a corpse in the corner. “Same dead guy in the corner too! Ahh, good times.”

“Oh my King, does this guy ever shut up?!” Another soldier exclaimed, while the torturer simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Nah, not even when I’m asleep.” The mercenary smirked, “So come to Uncle Deadpool and let me whisper sweet nothings into your ear too like Mr. Spinach Teeth here!”

“I’m not the one with the holes in my teeth.” The torturer said as he looked over the array of tools used for torturing. A few rusted hammers, scalpels, knives, drills, scissors, barbed wire and many more. He briefly checked his teeth from the reflection of a blade for the spinach.

“Yeah, food will never get stuck in my teeth ever again! How lucky am I?” Wade said cheerfully, further annoying his captors.

The soldier the torturer sent out returned with a small animal cage in both hands. “Wake up the other one.” The torturer told one of his operatives. “I’m getting tired of her snoring.”

The bag was removed from Lady, who apparently had been asleep this entire time despite the noise and the amount of injuries she has herself. She was rudely awakened by a large splash of freezing water striking her face. “Oh fuck!” She shouted through her shivering and hard breathing. “Man, is it wake up time already?”

“Oh Lady, you’re the one behind me?” Wade said, turning his head and smiling. “Wow, this is so awkward. Don’t you hate it when you meet people you know at the dentist?”

“This is a dentist?” Lady questioned with slight curiosity, glancing around the room with the blood stains and the armed soldiers around her. “This is the shittiest dentist I have ever seen in my life. Have you guys ever heard of something called bleach, maybe?”

“I heard it’s an amazing drink too, I recommend you shit wads try it!” Wade added on and the devil hunters laughed together.

The torturer simply opened the dog cage and a small Yorkshire Terrier puppy excitedly ran out of it. The puppy circled around Lady and Wade a few times, with the two demon hunters being extremely enthralled by the cute animal.

“Oh my God, I take back what I said about this being this being the shittiest dentist ever.” The raven haired woman said in a breathless voice. “You’re so fucking cute! If my arms weren’t tied up and I didn’t want to violently murder these fuckers around me, I would adopt you in a heartbeat!”

The puppy barked happily at Lady and ran over to Wade’s feet, looking up at him with large eyes. “Aww…” Wade smiled and puckered his lips, “Aren’t you a cute little--” The puppy’s mouth opened up like a nightmare-ish blooming flower and out emerged a small mess of barbed tentacles that thrashed around its jaws. “--SWEET MOTHER TERESA ON A HOOD OF A MERCEDES MOTHER FUCKING BENZ!”

The demon puppy was about to lunge towards the mercenary’s legs until one of the soldiers picked it up, but still allowed the tiny monster close enough to attempt to bite at Wade’s face. “WHAT THE FUCK!” He screamed in terror, darting his eyes around the room. “WHAT THE FUCK!”

“What are you what the fucking abo--” Lady asked before the soldier brought the demonic puppy to her as well, “--OH FUCK WHAT THE SHIT IS THAT!?”

“That’s what I wanna fucking know!” The mercenary exclaimed, the two of them watching the torturer pet the tiny monster as if it were any other domesticated animal.

“His name’s Cthulu.” The torturer said with a manic grin. “He’s the most adorable little demon anyone can ask for, ain’t that right Cthulu?” He said in a baby voice towards the animal, tentacles still lashing around but in a more calm, slow manner now that it was faced with its owner.

“Well that depends on who you ask, because clearly that dog-whatever thing has cleaner teeth than you.” Wade said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Yeah and it also has a bigger dick than you.” Lady added with her eyes staring off to the side with not much care about her current situation.

The torturer glared at the two of them and allowed one of his operatives to take the puppy monster away. “And when did you see my dick, you little bitch!?” He shouted as he swung a fist to Lady’s face.

Lady seethed in the pain and spit out some blood from her mouth. “Someone’s getting awfully defensive about their small penis.” She said with a smirk, causing Wade to burst out into a cackle from behind her.

“I bet it looks like a pig in a blanket!” The mercenary chimed in, kicking his legs around as he continued laughing.

The torturer balled up his fists and made a grab for the rusted hammer on the table.

“Ooh okay then M.C. Hammer, is it hammer time?" The devil huntress whispered to her friend, both of them giggling like children after it. Neither one cared that the torturer was holding the hammer up above his head and ready to strike both of them.

Wade scoffed and rolled his eyes at the sight. “Who does guy think he is, the Mighty Thor? He wishes he was as beautiful as that man!"

Before the torturer could strike, a very distinct Brooklyn accented voice called from outside the room.

“Aight, aight, break it up, ya frickin’ amateurs!” Taskmaster said with his arms crossed. With him was a Mundus Unit officer and upon stepping in the room, the soldiers all stood at attention immediately.

“Taskmaster is right.” The officer said as she removed her gasmask and helmet, then pushed it to a soldier’s chest to hold. “We won’t get much information if we kill these two, right Sergeant?”

“Yes ma’am.” The torturer answered and stepped aside to allow the officer through.

The officer pulled up a seat and sat down at the side of the two devil hunters to face them both. “Wade Wilson and Mary Arkham. We’ve heard so much about you and your little band of devil hunters. Personally, now that I meet you two face to face, I would love to meet the others as well and grant them the payback they deserve for interrupting our leader’s plans for bringing back our King.”

Lady felt her fists ball up hard and teeth grind when she was referred to her by her full name. There were only a set of people who were allowed to do that and they were her best friends. “You gotta get through us first if you want them.” She said through her teeth, her dual colored eyes sharply glaring at the Mundus Unit officer. “And I hope your schedule in the next several years is fucking clear because you’re gonna be spending a long ass time with us and me and Wade here ain’t gonna be fucking breaking any time soon!”

“Yeah, what she said!” Wade cheered his friend on. He then glanced over at Taskmaster, who was posted up against the wall. “Oh hi Tony.”

“‘Sup Wade.” Taskmaster greeted his fellow mercenary rather casually, earning some odd looks from the Mundus Unit operatives in the room.

“Don’t worry, you two.” The officer said, relaxing into her seat a bit. “We have _all_ the time in the world.” She motioned to the torturer and another soldier picking out a few items from the torture table.

“Wilson here mentioned something about a secret weapon.” The torturer said to his officer as he examined a rusted bonesaw.

“Did he now?” The officer’s curiosity was now spiked and she pulled her seat around to face the mercenary. “Please, Wilson, enlighten us about this secret weapon.”

Wade had a confused look on his face for a bit as his eyes slowly glanced around from side to side. “Uh, well first I’ll tell you two things…” He cleared his throat and looked straight at the officer in front of him. “One: your haircut is… ridiculous.”

The officer felt a single hand over her completely buzzed hair for a moment with a brow raised before returning her attention to Wade.

“And two: I ate alot of garlic, so if any of you guys happen to be vampires, I’m just letting you know I farted. Silent but deadly.” The mercenary was interrupted when a soldier placed him in a chokehold.

“Tell us what we need to know you fucking idiot!” The operative growled towards Wade, who was struggling to breath. The Mundus Unit officer raised her hand and the operative released her grip on the mercenary’s throat.

“I knew I should’ve drank the holy water…” Wade murmured to himself as he caught up with his breath. “Because if I pee myself no demons gonna want to touch me…”

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Lady asked herself as if she had just heard the most brilliant thing in her life.

“No one is peeing anywhere.” The officer interrupted the two of them. “Tell us about the secret weapon now.”

Lady groaned and began impatiently tapping her foot on the ground. “C’mon Wade, tell ‘em already!”

“Fine, fine, fine!” The mercenary grumbled and straightened himself out. “... So our secret weapon is _actually_ a new flavor-crystal formula. Twice the chocolatey goodness, half the calories. Plus it helps prevent tooth decay. Coming soon to a store near you--urk!” He was once again grabbed by the throat by the operative who struck his face over and over with her fist.

“What are you some kind of chocolate hater?! Why are you hitting him!?” Lady demanded, sounding offended. “That _is_ our secret weap--” Another operative wrapped his hands around her throat and began choking her. “Chocolate haters!” She managed to squeeze out in her faltering breath.

“Why all the choco- _hate_ , huh? Get it? Haha!” Wade was smacked hard but he still continued to laugh.

\---

Dante and Bulleta closed a set of metal double doors tight, barely escaping the swiping claws of demons and the bullets from Mundus Unit soldiers just outside the doors. The waters were up to their knees at this point and they had gotten separated from Trish and Lilith when a massive demon made a surprise attack at them inside the jungle.

“Get that damn thing working, Chuck!” Dante shouted as he opened up the door a bit to fire Ebony outside, striking only a couple of demons before he was forced to close the door again.

“I’m working on it!” The motocrosser exclaimed back as he looked up and down at the large armored walker drone in front of him. It was damaged but he discovered it could still provide them some covering fire as he opened up a hatch and began fiddling with the electronics inside. This walker drone was named _Kendra_ , as evidenced by the name being etched on the side of the drone. On the other side of the drone was a painting of a cracked skull of a demon being crushed by gears with the words _‘DRONES DEVOUR DEMONS_ ’ painted under the emblem.

Bulleta reloaded her Uzi and lost all of her patience at this point. “C’mon you stupid robot!” She yelled and kicked the walker drone at the base of it. Suddenly, the drone’s ‘eye’ glew a green light and it rose from the waters on its four large spider-like legs. A few hatches opened up and a minigun and several grenade launchers sprouted from the drone.

“That’s how it’s done!” Bulleta said as she stepped out of the way of the drone, while Chuck rolled his eyes and picked up his weapon and placed himself behind the drone.

“Targeting systems good. Ammo full. Recognize Lilith, Trish and Dante as friendlies…” Chuck said to himself as he tapped away at the holographic screen behind the drone. “We’re good! Knock 'em dead Kendra!”

Kendra emitted a robotic roar and it crashed right through the double doors, sending multiple demons and soldiers flying backwards. The walker drone fired its weapons all across the room, shredding apart whatever was in its sights in seconds.

“Now this party’s really getting wild!” Dante holstered Ebony and Ivory and dashed outside with Rebellion readied. He thrusted his broadsword right into the throat of a satyr demon who hadn’t even seen the demon hunter coming. He spun right round and effortlessly sliced through other satyrs who tried helping their fallen comrade. The half demon hopped on top of Kendra and kicked a ghoul demon off of the drone walker, where said demon fell right into the barrel of Bulleta’s submachine gun.

The demon huntress dodged an axe swipe from a minotaur demon then quickly shot her weapon at its legs, tearing them clean off. Once the minotaur was roaring in pain on the ground, she drove her knife directly in its throat and held up its body as a meat shield from incoming fire of Mundus Unit soldiers. She unhooked a grenade from her belt and tossed it towards the operatives. An explosion sent them flying, some unlucky few who were directly above the grenade had their legs completely torn apart from their torso. She shoved the body of the minotaur demon away and continued firing her Uzi at the demons that began to materialize from the walls and ceiling.

Chuck shoved the barrel of his shotgun into the mouth of a skeleton demon and fired, sending a burst of bones and pellets to another unfortunate demon. He felt something grab his ankle and he was brought into the water by the tail of a gorgon demon. The gorgon rose from the murky waters and its jaws watered at the sight of the human in its grasp. Before it could tear at Chuck, a stream of fire engulfed the demon and it began to scream.

The motocrosser scrambled for his shotgun and aimed it at the gorgon demon’s head. “Chew on this instead!” He said through his teeth and fired, blowing apart the demon’s head and leaving its body to slump over and fade away in burning ashes. The motocrosser brought himself back to his feet and he looked over to see his savior: another armored walker drone named _Ciara_ that was armed with a massive flamethrower.

Both walker drones met up and their heavy spider-legs stomped hard on the water below them as they walked side by side, ruthlessly delivering hell upon the demons that continued to attack despite their increasing losses. Dante, Chuck and Bulleta allowed the walkers to escort them out of the building and back into the jungle, where Trish and Lilith were facing off against a massive elephantaur demon that was armed with two large blades. Before they could catch up with the two demonesses, large fish-like demons rose up from the waters and began attacking the group and the two drones.

“Get outta the way!” Dante growled as Rebellion faded away and Ifrit formed around his fists. He drove a flaming punch in the chest of a demon, lighting it in flames instantly. “Anyone want fried calamari?” He asked and then swung an uppercut into another fish demon and sent it flying in the air as it faded into crisp ashes.

Bulleta held back a demon that was clamping its large fanged jaws at her. She swung her fist against the demon and then shoved an incendiary grenade in its mouth. “Burn you motherfuckers!” She grunted and threw the demon towards more of its brethren, catching them all in the fiery explosion.

A horde of fish demons crawled all over Kendra, slowing the drone down with their combined weight as they scratched and bit at the armored plates of the drone. Ciara aimed its flamethrower and burned the demons off its fellow drone. With his shotgun, Chuck finished off any flaming demons attempting to head back into the water.

Lilith flew around the elephantaur demon and dodged its blades swipes with quick turns and pivots. As the succubus distracted the demon, Trish circled it with and fired at it with electrified shots from her twin handguns. The elephantaur brought down one of its blades towards the demoness, who flipped out of the way and landed on her feet. She pulled out the Sword of Sparda and clashed blades with the gargantuan demon.

The succubus transformed her wings into jet boosters and with all her might she tackled the elephantaur demon off its balance. Trish drove her blade straight up, piercing right through the chest of the demon as it roared in pain. The demoness let out a shout as she tossed the large devil into the air, where Lilith summoned a horde of flaming bat skulls to rip apart the elephantaur piece by piece.

Lilith landed next to Trish, who was watching as the blood and body parts of the ill fated demon faded away in a series of ashes. “Overkill much?” The demoness asked with a smirk.

The young succubus only shrugged innocently, “We’re demons too. There’s no such thing a overkill with us.”

The two heard their friends calling over to them, they finally were able to regroup. “With how this path looks, we should be able to find the building where they’re holding Wade and Lady.” Chuck stated, looking over a holographic map before looking forward at the wide and long shallow river they stood on. Despite the heavy rain and mist, they could make out the silhouette of a tall building in the distance.

“I’ll send Ciara and Kendra up the other, more dry path to meet us up ahead.” The motocrosser explained, nodding towards the drone walkers heading up a rocky path away from the flooded waters. “They got a better chance surviving any boulders that path, so we’ll have to keep our boots wet for now.” He unfolded a four rotor drone named _Jade_  from behind him and allowed it to hover above him for a moment for it flew towards the direction of their target. “Jade will scout out the area, we can’t risk any more surprise attacks.”

“Good idea. I’m just about done dealing with these fuckers.” Bulleta spat and tucked her hood in further to block the rain. “Now let’s get going.”

As the group ran together towards the building that held their friends, Trish bit her lip and held tight on her handguns. _I’m coming to take you home, Mary. Please, stay strong._

**To Be Continued...**


	29. Trespassers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The torture worsens and continues for Wade and Lady, can the rest of the Devil May Cry team make it in time to rescue them?

A soaked rag was held tightly over Wade’s face and water was poured all over it. As he was waterboarded, the merc’s body thrashed around in his seat, his exposed skin chaffing against the ropes that contained him the more he moved around as he was continuously suffocating. Behind him, Lady was screaming as two electric rods were pressed up against her chest, sending hundreds of volts coursing through her body.

The rag was removed from the merc and he coughed violently, throwing himself forward to catch as much breath as he could. The torturer that operated the electric torture reared away and held up the rods, temporarily releasing Lady from her suffering. Her breathing was heavy but she still held a sharp glare paired with barred teeth. She was not going to give in, she knew she had to come back home with Trish.

“You still with me Wade?” She whispered to her friend after their captors walked off to change up their torture tactics.

“I think I’m seeing stars…” The mercenary said in a dazed voice. “Oh wait, that’s just my life almost ending.”

Lady looked around, she knew she had to keep buying time for her friends to come in and bust them out. Wade and her have been doing an excellent job so far, their constant talking and insulting their captors have actually reduced their morale and willingness to even get close to them. “You’re all gonna regret this, you know!” She said aloud, ignoring the low chuckles of the torturers around her.

A soldier with short cut brunette hair rolled her eyes and struck the devil huntress in her stomach with the butt of her rifle. “Regret what? No one’s coming for you two.” She said, watching the raven haired woman spit out her own blood on the dirtied floor.

“Yeah and that’s where you shit fucks are wrong!” Wade added even louder, catching the others’ attention. Some soldiers sighed and tried to ignore the merc, while others listened on in an attempt to humor him. “See one of the things you fucking _fuck_ heads need to know about us demon hunters from the Devil May Cry is that when you join our club, you get a basket full of nifty little items!”

The Mundus Unit officer uncrossed her arms, glancing at several of her soldiers for a moment before continuing to listen on at the mercenary’s rambling.

“Who cares about ya little frickin’ Easter basket?” asked Taskmaster with a raised brow underneath his skull mask.

“You _should_ care because one of those items just happens to be nice little tracking device we have surgically implanted in our bodies!” Wade continued on despite his captors all laughing at him. “And when one of us go missing, device reaches out to home base (which is our crummy little shop slash apartment at this point) and boom! Instant calvary!”

“Instant ass kicking calvary!” Lady finished with a growl.

The main torturer scoffed and began clapping his hands sarcastically once the two demon hunters had finished.

“You like that, huh?” Wade asked him with a fake smile. He chuckled and quickly got rid of his fake smile, “Go fuck your sister.”

The Mundus Unit officer got up to her feet and faced Wade directly, “Alright then, Wilson. Where is this supposed tracking device located?”

“It’s in my left ass cheek.”

A fist was swung across his face, after being struck he spit out his own blood to the side.

“Fine, it’s in my right ass cheek.”

Another punch to his jaw.

“Okay, okay, okay!” Wade winced after recollecting himself. “Seriously, it’s… it’s in between my butt cheeks, just below the _Hello Kitty_ tatto--” His head was grabbed and the officer struck her knee to his nose.

“He’s not lying. I’m actually the one that gave him that tattoo.” Lady added, earning her another strike to her stomach from a rifle.

“Just pull down my tighty whiteys and see for yourself!” Wade said, making a strained expression after tasting his own blood that had trickled from his nose.

The officer struck the mercenary’s forehead with her fist. “Enough joking around, it’s not funny anymore!”

“Of course it isn’t, you horse humping bitch!” He shouted with his teeth gritted. “But it _will_ be in a few seconds from now!”

\---

“What the hell is Wilson and Lady doing so bad that keeps getting them hit?” The Russian S.H.I.E.L.D. soldier, Belinski, asked as he watched the scene unfold from the scope of his sniper rifle. His American comrade, Dempsey, was right by his side setting up a machine gun. They were on a tall stone tower, a perfect spot that looks right into the large holes inside the torture room.

“Whatever it is, they’re both buying us some needed time.” Dempsey answered and pulled back the bolt to the machine gun. He activated his communicator and asked the Devil May Cry team that had just arrived. “Everyone ready?”

In another stone tower, a few S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers were hooking Trish, Bulleta and Dante up to ziplines that have been quietly attached to the main building where Lady and Wade were held in. “We’re all ready on this end.” Bulleta radioed back.

On the ground floor, Chuck and Lilith, alongside two soldiers, pressed themselves up against the wall near the entrance of the building. “Ready to breach.” Chuck informed as he loaded up his shotgun.

Trish impatiently tapped away at the hooks that secured her, trying to control her breathing as she watched Lady and Wade continue to get beat practically right in front of her. “Come on, come on…”

Belinski noticed something in his scope and adjusted it to get a closer look. The Mundus Unit officer was holding up a blade against Lady’s throat. “Shit. We must act quick now.”

\---

“Your eyes.” The officer said as she examined the raven haired demon huntress’ dual colored eyes. “I hate to say it, but I’m rather jealous of them.”

“Shit, I wouldn’t be.” Lady sneered, not afraid of the blade being held so close to her.

The officer grew a wicked smile, “Then you wouldn’t mind if I cut them both out, Arkham?”

Her teeth grinded against each other. She absolutely _despised_ that name, since it had belonged to her father. She even hated her own eyes, as she had inherited it from that same accursed man. Being called by that name and her eyes being referenced to was simply enough to push her to her limits. “Go ahead! I don’t care about them anyway!”

Wade turned his head back at his friend, “What?! You don’t wanna keep your eyes atleast until we kick the shit out of these assholes first?! You wanna _see_ them suffer right?!”

“I’ll just have to use my imagination then.” Lady said with a smirk, not backing down as the officer held her head steady as she inched the tip of the blade closer and closer to the demon huntress’ left eye.

\---

“I’m gonna get in there!” Trish shouted, watching as the blade go closer and closer to her girlfriend’s eye.

 _“Wait for the signal!”_ Dempsey exclaimed back from the radio.

Bulleta pulled out her Uzi, “Fuck that signal! Lady’s about to get her eyes cut out!”

“Come on, come on!” Dante called for the Russian soldier, “Take the damn shot Belinski!“

Belinski breathed deep as his finger brushed over the trigger of his rifle. Every factor was putting this risky shot in an even more dangerous state. The angle, the wind, the speed and drop time of the bullet. He might end up hitting Lady, but he had to take this chance. He gripped hard and exhaled, focusing entirely on the head of the Mundus Unit officer. He squeezed the trigger.

\---

It happened all in an instant. A bullet tore right through the Mundus Unit officer’s forehead, spilling blood in every direction as her body was thrown back against the wall with tremendous force. A bloody knife clanged on the floor near her hands. The other Mundus Unit soldiers immediately opened fire at the direction of the sniper shot, only for them to be shot at instead when Bulleta was the first to zipline in.

The demon huntress unhooked herself from the zipline and tackled a Mundus Unit operative, then fired her Uzi into his gut. Dante was in second and he wasted no time ripping apart the hooks and firing Ebony and Ivory at the demons that manifested themselves from the bloodied walls. Trish came in and sliced apart the zipline with the Sword of Sparda. She then rushed to Wade and released him from his bonds, then did the same for Lady. What the demoness saw caused her to audibly gasp and stagger a bit.

Belinski continued covering fire with his sniper rifle, taking out a few demons Dante had missed. Dempsey aimed down the sights of his MG and fired at the scrambling Mundus Unit soldiers on the ground below. Chuck and Lilith were seen storming into the building with the two soldiers that accompanied them, which was followed by gunfire and the sound of the succubus’ magic blowing up multiple things inside.

Wade ran over to a confused Taskmaster and swung a hard fist into the other mercenary’s skull mask, sending him tumbling backwards. “And that’s for being a lazy background character, Tony! I liked it better when you actually did shit!”

“Ooh Wade, you gonna get it now!” Taskmaster adjusted his mask and rushed his fellow mercenary, entering a fist fight around the mass gunfire and demon fighting all around them.

The last of the demons were killed and what remained of the Mundus Unit soldiers were restrained, with all of them having their suicide capsules practically punched out of their teeth. Dante and Wade had Taskmaster up to a corner, both of the devil hunters training their weapons on the skull masked mercenary.

“Give it up, bone head.” Dante said to the merc with his silver brows furrowed.

“Or you’ll be in a skele- _ton_ of pain in about 5 seconds!” Wade added on.

Taskmaster lifted up his hands lazily. “Ya know just ‘cause I got a frickin’ skull mask don’t mean you douche canoes gotta be throwing skeleton jokes at me.”

“Do you wanna get _boned_?!” Wade shouted.

“Not by you, I frickin’ don’t!” The mercenary said back in disgust. “Screw this! It ain’t over yet chumps, expect to see me again soon!” He suddenly threw down a flash bang grenade, blinding everyone’s vision momentarily. When the light vanished, Taskmaster had as well.

“You know, I hate that guy sometimes.” Wade said under his breath as he wiped his eyes.

“I understand why now, buddy.” Dante agreed with a smirk. He then dug into his pocket and pulled out the MP3 player, dusting it off with his other hand, then held it up for his friend. “Here. Thought you’d be missing this.”

There was a breathless gasp from the mercenary as he looked back and forth from his music player and his friend. “Oh man, if I wasn’t already in a committed relationship…”

The half demon scoffed and rolled his ice blue eyes, pushing the MP3 player to his friend’s chest. “Just take it.”

“Thank you so fucking much, brother!” Wade practically squealed, he was even a bit misty eyed as he held his beloved music player in his hands.

“C’mon, let’s go check on the others.” Dante said, nodding to the direction of the torture room.

Lilith and Trish eased Lady onto the floor and against the wall. The raven haired woman was holding her hand against her left eye, trying to hold back the blood pouring from it. Despite that, she had a rather mellow expression from the injury. “Guess I should’ve _seen_ that coming, right?” She laughed a bit, looking at Trish with her one good eye.

Trish tried to smile for her girlfriend as she squeezed her hand. “Puns are definitely not your thing, love.” She said and brushed Lady’s short black locks.

“Lady, if you mind…” Lilith said quietly. The devil huntress nodded and removed her hand, revealing a deep cut that started up from her left upper cheek that went through her eye and ended past her left eyebrow. The succubus’ hand glew and she gingerly held it over her friend’s eye, allowing her healing magic to do what it can.

“Jeez Lady, you look like shit!” Wade said as he crouched down with Dante with the women.

“Not as bad as you.” Lady chuckled, “Have you seen your teeth?”

The mercenary poked at his damaged, hole filled, teeth. “I can’t see them, but I can definitely feel the pain! Guess you can say it’s a _hole_ lot of pain, huh?”

Dante and Trish audibly groaned, while Lady and Wade laughed to themselves.

“I’m just glad you two are safe… and alive.” Bulleta said, smiling faintly at her two friends she had nearly lost.

Wade shot his younger friend a thumbs up and a toothy smile. “Main characters never die, kiddo!”

Lilith removed her hand and her magic had atleast stopped the bleeding and healed a bit of the cut, but it was still too deep and she couldn’t return Lady’s vision. “I’m sorry, Lady. I just wished I had taken more practice with healing magic…” She apologized while pressing a folded piece of gauze on her friend’s eye, then keeping it in place with strips of medical tape.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, Lil.” The devil huntress assured her friend with a grin. “I’ve always wanted to wear an eye patch anyway.”

The group met up with Chuck, Belinski and Dempsey, who had just finished interrogating the captured Mundus Unit soldiers that were now being escorted out of the building with handcuffs all restraining them.

“We found the guys that were captured with Lady and Wade, a few were dead and most in critical condition.” Chuck began explaining, looking over to the medical units carrying the soldiers with stretchers. “The ones still alive should be alright though.”

“That’s good to know.” Lady said thankfully. Wade nodded an agreement, they both felt some form of guilt for getting those people under their command captured as well.

“We’ve managed to get a lot of information from the Mundus Unit soldiers we captured too and I’m sure we’ll get tons more once we get them back to HQ.”

\---

“Come on, keep moving!” Dempsey shouted to the Mundus Unit soldiers with his rifle trained on them. They were in the courtyard of the setting, rain still continuing to pelt the tops of their helmets and gasmasks.

Belinski scoped the area alongside another soldier. They didn’t notice the dark figure atop the ruins behind them. “Sir?” The soldier called his attention.

“ _Da_ , Jackson?” Belinski asked, turning his head to his comrade.

“I’m getting a strange reading on my visor… like there’s something closing in on--” Jackson was immediately grabbed by a dark figure from his head. Belinski was grabbed as well and both soldiers heads were clashed together, knocking them both out cold before the dark figure that sprinted like an animal towards an unsuspecting Dempsey.

“Sir, on your 6!” A soldier shouted, having noticed the speeding figure.

“What the hell?!” Dempsey turned right round and aimed his rifle at the dark figure that was on all fours. He fired his weapon and saw his bullets seemed to have been bouncing harmlessly off the figure’s body. The shadow leaped towards him and swiped his rifle out of his hands.

“Son of a--” He attempted to swing at the shadow, who simply grabbed his wrist and head butted him. Dempsey slumped down in a daze, with the shadow picking up the soldier’s rifle and simply tossed it towards the last soldier, striking him down and knocking him out.

The Mundus Unit soldiers watched as their captors were taken out one by one and they all stared at the newcomer, unsure if it were friend or foe. It appeared to be a man in an armored suit with intricate designs, colored a deep charcoal black along silver linings in some areas. A mask with small, pointed cat-like ears and sharp shining silver eyes concealed the man’s identity. Most notable aspects of this man were the sharpened silver claws on his fingers and what appeared to be a necklace of some sorts made up of pointed claws similar to the ones on his fingers.

This man strided towards the small group of Mundus Unit soldiers, his fingers closing in and out of his palms. He circled the soldiers, like an animal having found its prey. “You… you one of us?” One of the operatives meekly asked, his eyes following the strangely silent man circling them.

The man stopped in his tracks, staring right at the operative that had asked the question. The soldier nearly trembled under the blank, white eyes of the man’s mask. He approached the soldier and threw him down to the muddy ground. When the soldier looked back up, he realized there were now multiple similarly dressed figures standing around them with unrecognizable weapons trained on them.

The leader of this mysterious group finally spoke up. “Like your friend here...” He gestured to the soldier he grounded as he spoke in a deep, commanding African-like accent. “I suggest you _all_ drop to your knees. After all, you must respect a King in his land.”

\---

“Something isn’t right.” Chuck noticed after some uncomfortable time had passed. “Dempsey should’ve reported that the Mundus Unit soldiers were taken aboard a Quinjet.”

Dante had been seated up against the wall with Wade, both of them sharing earphones as they listened to music together. He removed the earbud and handed to his friend, then stood up to his feet and dusted his backside. “I’ll go check.”

“Got it.” The B.S.A.A. captain confirmed, then returned to his radio. “Dempsey, report in. Dempsey?” He adjusted the frequency, “Belinski, what’s the status?”

As Dante walked out of the building and back to the pelting rain, he noticed his allied soldiers were all down. He was unable to tell if they had been killed or were simply unconscious, as he suddenly felt a presence rushing to his side. He ducked down and side stepped away from a claw swipe from a shadowy figure. He watched as the figure’s claws cut deep and clean into the metal door, even going as far as cutting apart the stone walls around it.

“You’re new.” Dante said with a grin as he brandished Rebellion from behind him. The figure didn’t say anything in response as he entered a battle stance, claws in both hands extending.

The half demon ran straight towards his new opponent, thrusting Rebellion forward. The newcomer practically backhanded the demonic broadsword to the side and leaped forward with one clawed hand gunning for Dante’s throat. He was quick to hop backwards and use Rebellion again to block the potential attack. With his free hand he brought out Ivory and began unloading on the man, who simply stood in place as the bullets simply fell to the ground upon contact with his suit.

Dante squinted his eyes, unsure at first if that had actually happened before him. “Well that’s just not fair.” He muttered to himself as he tucked Ivory away.

“Neither was trespassing my land.” The man responded with venom and flipped forwards, sending both of his feet towards the half demon and landing a dropkick to his opponent’s chest.

The demon hunter staggered back, having felt the force from this newcomer’s attack. “ _Your_ land?” He asked and swung Rebellion as fast as the other man dodged each swing, “Who the hell do you think you are?”

The man caught Rebellion in mid swing, Dante noticing his opponent’s claws actually leaving marks in his blade as he dug into them. “The King.” He said simply and drove a quick punch to the half demon’s face.

Dante was taken aback from the strike, his carefree grin had been quickly replaced with a deadly glare. “Now I’m pissed.” He said through his teeth, scratching his blade was one thing, but managing to catch a punch at his handsome mug? That’s just a death wish.  He rushed the man and swung Rebellion upwards, the tip of his blade leaving a noticeable scratch on the man’s armor. _Not so fast now huh, kitty?_ He smirked, he could feel the man's slight surprise through his emotionless mask.

The man went down on the ground, spinning right round to perform a sweep kick on the half demon. Dante flipped forwards to dodge the attack and he swung Rebellion again downwards, where the man was quick to boost himself up on one hand and out of the way of the swing. The two men continued to clash, with each time the blade and claws struck a loud clang noise would erupt that practically echoed throughout the rain forest.

Dante caught the man’s arm when he had tried to drive his claws towards his throat again. He noticed that this man was very, very quick, and along with that speed he had shown tremendous feats of strength as well. The half demon threw his opponent over his shoulder, slamming him down into the ground.

The demon hunter raised up Rebellion and drove it down, only for the man to parry the attack and flip himself back up. He sent a double kick towards Dante, who dodged it and returned fire by performing a speeding round house kick to the man’s back. The man was sent tumbling backwards but he quickly collected himself in an instant, landing on all fours like some type of animal. His claws extended out again as he marched towards the half devil, who was readying himself again with Rebellion. Their fight was interrupted when Bulleta rushed in and began delivering multiple kicks to the man.

The man blocked every single kick from the devil huntress, finally ending it by grabbing a hold of her ankle and spinning her. Bulleta collided with the muddy floor and Trish entered the fray quickly to protect her younger friend. The demoness charged up her fist with electricity and swung it at the man.

Trish felt her fist connect with the man, sending him spinning round for a moment until he spun again and landed a kick against the back of her head. The demoness fell to the ground and shot out her hand, firing a burst of lighting at the man, who backflipped out of the way.

“Who the fuck is this guy?!” Bulleta demanded, scrambling up to her feet and pulling out her Uzi.

As soon as a weapon was pulled, armed men in somewhat similar outfits to the man appeared from seemingly out of nowhere, all of them training their weapons on Bulleta, Trish and Dante. The man raised his hand, apparently signalling his soldiers to stand down.

“Everyone stand down!” Chuck spoke up, catching everyone’s attention. He held his shotgun lowered, but still tight in his hands, while Lilith followed with her submachine gun in hand as well. Lady and Wade were right behind them, the devil huntress rushing over to Trish and making sure she was okay.

Once Wade saw who was the cause of all the commotion was, he sheathed his katanas behind him and nodded towards the armored man. “Your highness.” He greeted, almost sounding sarcastic.

Dante’s brows furrowed as he looked over to his friend. “'Your _highness_?'”

“Don’t you guys know?” Wade asked his allies, “He’s--”

“The Black Panther.” The man finished off the merc’s sentence in a cold voice. “The King of Wakanda. And as king, it is my duty to inform trespassers that we take our borders very, _very_ seriously.”

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: t'challa, the black panther and warrior king of wakanda, from the black panther series. based on his appearance in captain america: civil war.


	30. Warriors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having just rescued Lady and Deadpool from their torture under the hands of the Mundus Unit, the Devil May Cry team discover they had accidentally crossed the borders of the nation of Wakanda. The team is confronted by the warrior king of Wakanda, the Black Panther.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since wakanda is also a fictional nation, like sokovia, the language they speak is actually xhosa. which is what they used in the captain america: civil war movie as well.

“Wakanda? How come I never heard of it before?” Trish asked the Black Panther.

“The people of Wakanda prefer solitary harmony, something you all have disturbed very greatly.” The king stated accusingly. “Do not make me ask again... what are you all doing in my nation?”

Dante’s fists balled up, having grown annoyed with the Black Panther’s attitude. Chuck held him back with one arm, briefly looking at his friend for a second before turning his eyes back to the king. “Your, uh… highness. If you would allow me and my partner to explain the situation?”

Black Panther was silent for a moment before finally speaking again. “I shall allow it, Captain Greene.”

Lilith glanced up, she was checking on the downed S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers to ensure they were still alive, which gratefully they were. “We meant you or your people no harm when we arrived here. We weren’t even aware that Wakanda existed until now, so please forgive us for passing your borders.” She began cautiously.

Chuck nodded to his partner and continued, “We were told there was an outpost from an enemy unit we’ve been tracking for some time around this area. A strike team was sent in and they were captured, so we came in to rescue our agents and capture the enemy operatives in hopes of finding out their agenda.”

“So it seems we have a common enemy...” Black Panther deduced from the explanation. His claws retracted into his gloves and he stood straight up. His guards behind him seem to have slowly relaxing themselves as well. The king removed his helmet slowly, revealing a surprisingly youthful man for his position (he appeared to be in his late 20’s at best.) He had a few notable scars over his stone cold face and well trimmed beard. “I am T’Challa. As I accept your apology for crossing my borders, I too, apologize for the attack on your allies here.” He said, his dark brown eyes looking over at the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers he had knocked out (now just getting back up) and eventually ending on Dante.

“None taken.” Dante responded, staring right back at the king. He noticed something suspicious in T’Challa’s eyes when they met, something that resembled slight surprise.

“Well that was easy!” Wade said aloud, breaking the final bits of tension between both parties. He walked over to T’Challa and bowed a bit, “Now your highness, if you mind, maybe you could lend us those Mundus Unit chumps again so we can promptly talk to them? And by ‘talk’ I mean excessively murder.”

“I cannot allow that for the moment, Sergeant Major Wilson. For these soldiers of this Mundus Unit shall face proper trial and punishment in a Wakandan court.” T’Challa said. “I have been tracking them for some time as well. They have released many _iidemon kobusuku_ into our nation to torment my people. As their king, I must grant my people peace by bringing these operatives of Mundus Unit and their devils into justice.”

“We just want to find out more information about this unit.” Chuck stated, “You have the right to prosecute them as they were captured on your soil, don’t let us interfere with that.”

“I was not planning to, Captain Greene.” The king said, looking over to one of his guards and nodding. The guard began speaking into his radio in the language of Wakanda and in an instant a sleek, futuristic jet appeared directly above them. “But information, I can very well share. Perhaps you all will too?”

“It’ll certainly get us farther in this mystery.” Lilith said.

“Then you and your allies shall follow my lead, First Lieutenant Aensland.” T’Challa commanded and he walked towards the jet that landed near him. His guards immediately followed their king into the jet, leaving the team briefly to themselves.

“Do you think it’s the right move to trust this guy?” asked Trish with a raised brow.

Chuck shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure. He did kinda just beat some of our guys… but he definitely knows what he’s talking about.”

“Yeah, how else would he have already known our names and even the name of the Mundus Unit?” added Lilith further.

“I don’t trust him.” Dante said with his arms crossed. “But I’m just about done standing around in the rain. Let’s see where this takes us first and if the cat ends up double crossing us, I’m taking him out.”

“Jeez, Dante, lighten up.” Lady mumbled while heaving Kalina Ann behind her. “C’mon guys, let’s get going.” She said as her and Trish walked ahead first towards the jet.

Still feeling unsure about the situation, Trish pulled out her communicator to contact her pilot. “Ray, stay close. If things go bad, I want us to be able to get out as quick as possible.”

_“Yes, ma’am!”_

Chuck and Lilith followed after the two women, along with Dempsey, Belinski and the other soldiers that were all grumbling to themselves about being beaten by a man in a cat suit. Bulleta, Dante and Wade all looked at one another before they all went forward to come along for the ride.

\---

“Wow.” Was all Wade could muster, he practically spoke for the entire group as they all looked out the windows of the large jet the King of Wakanda had invited them into. The rain forests they were in apparently was simply the borders of the nation. The depressing dark grey clouds that drenched the forests were now gone, a beautiful clear blue sky having been finally released. The sky looked over vast forests and greenery and the sun that shined bright in the sky was reflected on the massive futuristic palaces and buildings that began popping up across the land. The nation looked like an absolute paradise.

“Shit, if I owned this place I wouldn’t want anyone else to know about it too!” Lady said admiringly.

The booming voice of T’Challa interrupted their sightseeing. “Enjoying the view?” He was now dressed in a sleek all black suit, having put away his Black Panther armor in storage somewhere in the jet. “The view shall look much more admirable once we reach the palace.” He pulled his sleeve back for a moment to check his watch. “Which should be right about now.”

The jet rumbled a bit and the inner lights brightened up, signalling the landing. The hatch opened up and the king and his guards led their visitors out. “I shall meet you all inside, please help yourself to whatever you need.” T’Challa told the group, then faced Chuck. “And Captain Greene, if any of your men require medical attention, we have the finest doctors in the world ready to assist you.”

“Much appreciated, your highness.” The motorcrosser said thankfully, then went over to catch up with his allies.

The king called his guards over to him, a slight dash of caution having been added to his cold expression. “ _Hlala u jongile._ ” He told his guards, his eyes going over every single one of them. “ _Esingakwaziyo ukuzihlawula omnye uhlaselo._ ”

The leading guard bowed to his king, the rest following in suite. “ _Ewe, ukumkani wam._ ” They all dispersed, leaving T’Challa to walk into the entrance of the palace to meet with his visitors.

T’Challa entered the wide door of his palace and into a large interior with Wakandan statues and paintings decorating the walls, comfortable chairs and tables with fresh fruits and vegetables. Lilith was speaking with Chuck, while the soldiers that had joined them were removing their helmets and gasmasks to properly admire the view of the lush forests from the glass wall. Dante was unusually quiet, he wasn’t even propping his boots on the table or relaxing back like he usually would. Trish noticed this but she hadn’t time to ask him about it, as she didn’t want to leave Lady alone (the raven haired woman being escorted with Wade to the medical bay to have their injuries examined.) Bulleta however, was keeping a close eye out for whatever it was she was suspicious about.

“Captain Greene, First Lieutenant Aensland.” The king called the two who stood up from their seats once their names were said. “I would like to make due with the time we have. Will you two and your allies join me into the conference room so that we may discuss this Mundus Unit?”

“Of course, your highness.” Lilith answered politely, even adding a little bow with it. She was highly amused on the inside though, she never had to do this before. When you’re the younger sister of a succubus queen, usually others would be the ones speaking to her like that. She didn’t mind one bit though. She looked over at the blonde demon huntress next to her with a patient smile, awaiting her answer.

Bulleta shrugged her shoulders and stood up as well. “Sure… your highness.” The words came out normal, but it felt foreign to the girl on the inside.

As his partner and the demon huntress followed T’Challa down the hall, Chuck turned his head over to Dante and his soldiers. “How about you guys?”

“With all due respect sir,” Dempsey began, he was practically sinking in the comfortable couch that felt like a cloud. “We got our ass kicked by that cat guy and if this is his way of apologizing, I think I’ll be staying here for a bit.”

Belinski nodded and agreed with his brother in arms. “ _Da._ Is good time to nap to avoid the never ending, crippling stress of life for brief moment.” The other soldiers followed suite, causing Chuck to grin a bit.

“Dante?” He called the demon hunter. “You wanna come along, bud?”

A small sigh escaped Dante’s lips and he pushed himself off the couch. “Fine.” He said simply, confusing Chuck for a moment.

“Everything alright?” Chuck asked in a whisper as the two of them walked to follow Lilith and Bulleta.

“Yeah.” The half demon obviously lied. The motocrosser decided not to dwell into it any further, in respect for his friend.

They entered the conference room, where T’Challa was greeted by his personnel with a bow. The room had multiple computers and holographic screens on the walls or the floor with various amounts of information. The king ushered his guests around a small round table where they took seats as he pressed a button on the side of the table. The table was apparently a screen on itself and it began displaying information on the Mundus Unit. A few pictures of Alex Wesker popped up, along with various images of demons and soldiers under their command.

“Many organizations have risen from the ashes of the Galactus Incident.” T’Challa began, swiping his two fingers on the table screen to show his guests other sets of information. “But none as of true concern as the Mundus Unit. I have been keeping track on all of your efforts into stopping this organization in their tracks, but I fear we may be fighting on the wrong side of the battlefield.”

“We hit them wherever we find them but we can never find a proper trail to find their true stronghold.” Chuck said while his eyes read over the words presented before him.

“Until now...” T’Challa said, waving a hand as all the table cleared up. He presented a single picture of what appeared to be a large island of some sorts. There were notable modern buildings and factories, but what was the most eye catching was the massive ancient castle that stood in the center of the island.

Dante’s ice blue eyes widened at the sight and he slowly raised himself up from his seat. The others looked on in concern as they watched the half demon’s gaze stuck against the picture.

“Mister Sparda?” T’Challa called the devil hunter cautiously.

“I know this place.” Dante finally said in a nearly hushed voice. He remembered everything about it. He remembered when he first met Trish, the demoness bursting into his office and giving him a warning. He remembered arriving to the island and Trish suddenly disappearing. He remembered Vergil’s final moments being there. He remembered facing off against the demon king Mundus there. “Mallet Island.”

“You've been there before ?” Lilith asked, a bit surprised.

“Yeah.” The half demon looked upwards to the King of Wakanda. “Are you saying this is where Alexis Wesker and their unit is based?”

The warrior king nodded firmly. “Yes.” He answered, brushing his short beard briefly. “A question I have been asking, I believe you all have an answer to... what is the Mundus Unit planning?”

Dante remembered what the saw in Hell's Kitchen, what Wanda warned, his talk with Wade in the car, everything that had been happening for the past few weeks. It was all making complete sense now. His breathing turned a bit heavy and his hands balled up into tight fists. “They’re gonna bring back a demon king.”

There was a cold, stunned silence between them all. Chuck stared hard at the ground with his fingers around his chin. Lilith felt a strange chill through her body and she had her arms crossed, a worried look plastered across her face. Bulleta was looking over everyone’s expressions, notably Dante, who looked the most serious she had ever seen him in all of this time knowing him.

“I see.” T’Challa finally spoke, placing his hands behind his back. This was certainly a problem they were faced with that had to be dealt with as soon as possible. “Captain Greene.” He addressed the motocrosser. “Contact your chain of command. Tell them of the situation and this Mallet Island. Tell them to prepare.”

Chuck nodded and pulled out a device that projected a small hologram screen. As he and Lilith began discussing over the details before informing their command, T’Challa walked over to Dante with a calculating look. “Mister Sparda, a word, if you mind?”

Dante stood up straight and looked into the brown eyes of the King of Wakanda before him. “Alright.” He said. The king proceeded to walk out of the conference room, with the half demon some distance behind him as he followed. Bulleta watched as her friend leave the conference room with the suspicious cat suit wearing king, she briefly considered following but she decided not to interrupt their privacy.

\---

Dante had followed T’Challa into a wide office that only had a desk and a couple of chairs. Behind it was a glass wall with a view on a massive waterfall. The half demon was rather annoyed the king wasn’t saying much, he was awfully quiet for someone in such a position of power. He stood in place atop a beautifully designed rug, looking at T’Challa with watchful eyes as the king felt his hand against the marble wall.

A small portion of the wall was pressed in once T’Challa pushed his hand into it. The wall flipped inwardly, revealing his Black Panther suit and a variety of weapons. Something caught Dante’s eye almost instantly. As if reading his mind, T’Challa already had carefully picked up the katana blade in his two hands and began walking back to the half demon.

Dante stared at the katana sword being brought to him, his mind tossing and turning to the point he wasn’t entirely sure if anything around him was real anymore. T’Challa stood before Dante and raised the katana to the demon hunter a bit higher and that’s when he knew this was not some sort of sick joke. It was the Yamato. The blade that belonged to his brother, Vergil.

“How…” Was all that Dante could even get out.

“Take it.” T’Challa firmly said. He released his grip on the demonic blade once the white haired man had taken it in his own hands. “When I finally was able to gain a clear look upon you after our brawl, Mister Sparda, I had briefly thought you were the man who had owned this blade. But…”

Dante listened to the words the warrior king said as he held Yamato carefully, as if he was handling something very fragile in his hands.

“This blade.” T’Challa continued. “From the way you gaze upon it, I assume you are familiar with it. Perhaps the owner as well?”

He watched as Dante pulled the katana blade out of its sheath.“Yamato.” Dante finally spoke as he examined the katana from side to side. He felt like his mouth was completely dry and the words felt distant. “It’s called Yamato. And yeah... I guess you can say I know who owned this.”

“I know as well.” T’Challa said, his hands going behind him again. “Though, I never had the chance to learn his name. But as I gaze upon you, Mister Sparda. I see that you and this man wear the same face.”

“Never seen twins before, your highness?” The half demon asked sarcastically, he was trying to use humor to cover up his overloading feelings as usual. He returned Yamato into its sheath and his false grin faded away as he looked into the eyes of the warrior king. “How did you know him… how did you know Vergil?” Was his first question amongst the hundreds upon hundreds he had for him. He still couldn’t believe in the idea that his twin was even alive.

T’Challa didn’t answer at first, instead he pulled the two seats that faced the desk and pushed one over to Dante. The half demon nodded at the gesture and took his seat, as did the warrior king. “Your twin brother, Vergil, was it?” T’Challa looked for confirmation and found it when Dante nodded once more. “It had been some time ago, around 2 to 3 months. He was discovered washed up near a river, nearly dead, but hand still gripping hard on his blade. I was quickly informed of the situation and dispatched myself personally. Me and my guardsmen returned Vergil back to this very palace and I had my most brilliant medical experts look after him. We learned very fast that this man was simply not human, but a half breed. A mix of demon and human. As yourself, Mister Sparda?”

Dante leaned in closer, soaking up every ounce of information T’Challa spoke to him. The warrior king continued on, “He was nursed back to health and the young man was already up to his feet in no time. At first he was violent and aggressive, showing signs similar to that of an injured or cornered beast. It took some time until he had grown comfortable enough to realize me or my people were no threat to him. Still, he was cold and distant, keeping very quiet in the room he stayed in. I am one of the few people to even speak to him during his stay.”

“What did he say?” The half demon asked curiously.

“He insisted on leaving Wakanda. He spoke of his need to find someone or something, though he never fully elaborated.” T’Challa’s eyes briefly darted down to the ground before returning to meet Dante’s eyes again. “And then… the attack happened.”

Dante felt his heart skip a beat the moment the warrior king said that. “We were attacked by the Mundus Unit. They had come out of the shadows when we were least expecting, with their treacherous beasts of the night and ruthless gun-toting operatives. I quickly jumped into the fray, fighting against the evil that had invaded my nation.” His expression changed from cold stone serious into regret. “I… had made a mistake though. The palace was breached during my battles down below. My guardsmen did the best they can but… I apologize.”

The half demon looked down at Yamato, his gloved hands tightening around the sheathe. He held onto it protectively, the only piece of his twin brother he had left. “The Yamato was the only thing left. Your brother was nowhere to be found.” T’Challa finished, speaking in a grim tone.

The two were silent for a moment. The warrior king watching the half demon simply stare at the blade in his hands for what seemed like hours. T’Challa decided to speak more, “Mister Sparda. Ever since our two worlds have merged, I have been doing much research on the warriors of your world. Your history and bloodline specifically is much impressive.”

“That’s something I don’t hear everyday.” Dante said, a false grin on his lips.

“Your father was a great warrior. A noble, respectful one at that. I personally would even consider your father a hero.” T’Challa continued. “My father was a warrior as well, as was my father’s father before him and so forth. The mantles of the Black Panther and King of Wakanda has been passed on upon many generations.”

A low chuckle came from the demon hunter. “Looks like we got a little bit more in common than one would think.”

“As I was thinking. In my culture we believe those who have raised us continue to live on in our own soul after they had passed away. My father will always be with me, as would yours.” T’Challa said firmly. “Not just you, but your brother as well. I look at you and what I see before me is a strong man, a warrior. One who would never surrender no matter the trials and obstacles they shall come across… and I saw the same thing when I gazed upon your twin brother.”

“Do you think Vergil’s alive...?” Dante questioned slowly.

“I do not _think_ your sibling is alive, Mister Sparda. I _know_ he is.” T’Challa stood up from his seat, Dante following suite as well. “So as a fellow warrior, I offer myself to assist you in this quest to reunite you and your brother. As well as put an end to the madness this Mundus Unit has been creating.”

Dante was completely at a loss for words. Before this he had almost given up his never ending search for his brother, but now here he was faced with the only chance he has with finding Vergil once more. The warrior king that stood right infront of him, the same man he had fought viciously in the rain forests not even a day ago, was offering his help. This alone made the half devil at lost for words. “Why...?”

“Because I look upon you and see myself.” T’Challa stated. “A man who has lost his family. A man forced to fight. When I had lost my father, my only family, I knew only vengeance and hatred. I quickly learned that it was not the correct path to lead and that I must turn towards justice and acceptance. I do not wish for you to be consumed by loss, as was I before. I simply wish for you not to fall into the same abyss and create the same mistakes I have.”

The demon hunter gazed down, holding Yamato in his left hand now. “Thank you, your highness.” He said after looking back up to the warrior king. He extended out his hand and T’Challa was quick to shake it strongly.

“Of course, Mister Sparda.” The King of Wakanda responded with a small smile, something he almost never did.

The two broke off and the half demon waved his hand a bit, having grown a bit tired of the whole 'Mister Dante' thing (he had received that enough with Ariel.) “Just call me Dante.”

“I see.” The warrior king said thoughtfully. “Then you shall refer to me as T’Challa.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to disrespect you in your land…” Dante trailed off.

“It is no disrespect to me personally, as we are allies now.” T’Challa firmly said. “And I look upon the future we have with great anticipation. Where we would consider each other more than allies, but as friends.”

The half demon had never met anyone like T’Challa and he was thoroughly impressed with him. He had almost completely forgotten they were beating the life out of each other earlier. “I really do appreciate it, T’Challa. Everything you’ve offered.”

“Offers are only offers though, Dante.” He spoke as he began walking towards the exit side by side with his new ally. “But as King of Wakanda, I shall always take upon those offers I create and make them reality. We shall find your brother and we will end the Mundus Unit once and for all.”

“We will.” Dante agreed, much more confidently now. He held tight onto Yamato’s sheath as him and T’Challa exited the office and proceeded downstairs. There was a newfound burst of fiery passion and determination burning inside the devil hunter’s soul.

_I promise I’m gonna take us both home, Vergil. Even if it’s the last thing I do._

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah we're nearing the end here. gonna be 30+ chapters. hope that doesn't scare people away.


	31. Return To Mallet Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final stronghold of Alexis Wesker and their Mundus Unit has been discovered in Mallet Island, the same island that the terrifying Demon King Mundus had risen from before. The Devil May Cry team and all their allies take the fight to the island to prevent Wesker from bringing the Demon King back.

Wade sat with his back against the wall in his room, the only source of light emanating from his laptop that sat on his thighs. He was on a video call with his fiancee, Vanessa, something he had always done whenever he had time outside of missions and being asleep. He rubbed his face and sucked in his lips, a mellow look on his face. “Everyone’s been on edge lately. Especially Dante and Trish…” It felt strange hearing his friends’ actual names coming from him, but Vanessa knew very well when he actually saying their names instead of some interesting insult or nickname he was being serious.

_“I’m worried about them, honey. I’m worried about all of you.”_

“Yeah… who wouldn’t be.” Wade said with a frown. “There’s no stopping Dante though, he didn’t sleep at all last night. I found him downstairs either sharpening his brother’s sword or just sitting there waiting. Ever since we got back from Wakanda he hasn’t let that thing go.”

Vanessa was sitting in her computer chair, her arms wrapped around one of the many stuffed animals Wade had gotten her during his time away from her. She was always so used to coming home to call her fiance and listening to how he and his friends are doing and the insane adventures they go on. She never really quite grasped the idea her fiance was actively fighting demons now, but she was just glad he constantly kept himself safe and has found a group of people that actually enjoyed his company. Though this time is different, Wade looked exhausted, his usual chirpy tone was gone. Even if his cancer had been long since cured, the look of hopelessness in his eyes reminded her of the haunting memories of when he was first diagnosed with it.

 _“And how is Trish?”_ Vanessa asked worriedly.

“Jeez, where do I even start…” Wade muttered, rubbing his hand through his short brown hair. “Some type of anxiety or panic is affecting her, Lady is trying her best to keep her calm and steady. I don’t know the real details but whatever the fuck this Mundus asshole did to her... “ His fists balled up slowly. He never really had much friends, so the few he had he absolutely cherished with every bone in his body. If Alexis Wesker ended up being successful in bringing back the demon king, Wade knew he had a few words to give to him, alongside a few dump trucks’ worth of bullets, explosives and blades. Though, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how Lady feels.

Vanessa had waited a beat before asking. _“Are you going on this mission?”_

“Yes hun.” Wade answered almost immediately. “Someone’s gotta make sure Dante doesn’t end up killing himself out there.” That was also strange, it was usually the other way around with them.

_“Are you all going?”_

“God, I hope not.” He admitted. He honestly wished he could go in himself, he didn’t want to lose any of his friends. “There’s no stopping Lady or Dante, they both wanna stop Wesker and if Mundus comes back, take him out as well. I know how they feel. Not sure about Trish and I think Kat wants to go too but… Jesus, she’s just a kid. We admitted her into school so she could find something different to do, just like Ariel.”

She bit her bottom lip and continued. _“Have any of you talked it over with her yet?”_

“Dante did and so did Lady, not sure what it was exactly about though.” He rubbed his face again, he wished he could have gotten some more sleep but for some reason he felt restless. He heard a knock on his door and sadly he knew he had to end the call with his fiancee now. “Hey babe, sorry I have to get going now.”

Vanessa only nodded, she worried easily. She only wanted him to come back home, but she understood what was truly at stake this time. “ _Stay safe, please. I love you.”_

“I will. I love you too.” The video call ended and Wade shut his laptop, then tossed it onto his bed where his Deadpool suit laid alongside a multitude of his weapons. He knew he had to come into this one armed to the teeth. He walked up to his door and opened it up, revealing Lady who looked much more awake than him. Her sunglasses’ lenses were even darker now to cover up her injured eye. “What’s up ketchup?” He greeted with a smile, faking his happy tone. Lady was a bit jealous the Wakandan medical treatment worked perfect on his teeth, but they couldn’t repair her eye. Though she dismissed the thought, she never liked her eyes in the first place.

“Just checking if you’re almost ready.” She told her friend in an unusually quiet voice.

“Almost!” He glanced back inside his room. “Just gotta fit my nice ass into red spandex, you know the deal.”

Lady tried to smile. “I get you.” She was beginning to walk off but Wade asked her something that made her stay for a bit longer.

“How’s Trish doing...?”

“She’s okay.” The demon huntress answered, her single good eye glancing down. “She’s strong. I think she’s gonna come with us. She wants to stop Wesker just as much as any of us do.”

Wade nodded and that was it. The two split off to go about their business. Elsewhere in the office, Katrina was readying her things while Patty watched on in silence. As she watched the demon huntress don her signature sleeveless red leather hoodie over a black sweater, Patty sadly asked her a question she probably already knew the answer to. “There’s no changing your mind, right?”

Katrina pulled on her fingerless gloves and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

Patty felt her heartstrings tug, twice the pain too as Filia didn’t want Katrina to leave them either. Blue eyes changed from red, “Katrina, are you absolutely sure?”

“I can’t sit this one out.” Katrina answered solemnly, “This isn’t about the job or the money anymore… this is about what will happen if we don’t act now while we still can.” She pulled her hood over her head and faced Patty. “Dante, Wade, Lady and Trish are going. I’m fighting by their side, especially now that an old enemy of Dante and Trish is possibly returning. I’m not gonna leave them.”

Patty and Filia were left without anything to say. A beat passed and Katrina began walking towards the door, until the girls called her once more. Patty had pulled Katrina into a tight hug, shared tears threatening to pour from her eyes. “Can you promise us something…?” They both asked at once, through Patty’s voice.

She dug her face into Patty’s shoulder as her arms wrapped around the girl’s waist. “Anything.”

“Please… after this mission. You come home, finally put down the gun… and just live life.”

Katrina’s hands trembled, both of the girls hugging each other even tighter. “I promise.” She said with every ounce of honesty in her words. She knew now that this was the perfect time to end her career and leave the path of demon hunting, especially now that she had a promising future with school and found loving friends who are willing to support her through anything. But now, she had one final mission to complete. Despite the feeling of dread amongst them all, she knew they were all going to come home in one peace.

\---

Dante stood outside the Devil May Cry office patiently awaiting Ray’s arrival. He rested his left palm on the end of Yamato’s hilt, the weapon hanging on his side much similar to how his brother had used it. He smelled a specific scent, but not the usual scent of demons he had been so used to, but one of an angel. It had been there for a bit, but he decided to finally address it. “Kid, you don’t have to hide you know.”

A second passed and Ariel gracefully floated downwards, glowing wings being briefly visible before fading away once she touched the ground. “My apologies, _Monsieur_ Dante but I have heard of the news recently…”

“And?”

She took a moment to answer back, as if collecting her confidence. “I want to help, however I can!”

Dante scratched the back of his neck, unsure of what to say at first. “Listen El, this mission we’re going on… it’s different from the others we’ve went on.”

Ariel’s brows arched worriedly. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean it is far too dangerous and there’s way more things at risk here.” He explained slowly to the angel. “Me or the others don’t want you to get hurt.”

“But I don’t have to fight!” Ariel continued to plead, “I can always be morale support, cheer you all on, and… and... ” She trailed off the more she looked into Dante’s unchanging expression, her confidence slowly dying down. The doors of the office opened up and they both looked to Deadpool and Bulleta walking down the steps ready to go.

“Ellie? What’re you doing here?” Bulleta asked the angel with concern.

Before Ariel could answer, Dante spoke up in her place. “She was stopping by to watch the office for us.” He said and turned over to the angel, this time whispering to her. “Ariel, if we don’t come back… take Patty somewhere safe, maybe with her mom or Chuck and Lilith. Just take care of her and yourself.”

“I…” Was all she could manage to get out. Dante didn’t wait for an answer as he looked upwards to see Ray slowly landing the Quinjet down in front of them. Lady was out of the doors as well with Kalina Ann on her back, she turned around to see Trish step out quietly and following her girlfriend.

“Trish! Lady!” Ariel called to the two women, both smiling faintly at her. “I was worried about you two…”

“Don’t sweat it, Ellie.” Lady assured her with a pat on the angel’s shoulder. “Listen, we’d love to talk but we gotta get going.”

“W-Wait.” The angel stuttered, stopping the two women again. She dug her hand in her jacket and slowly pulled out her lever-action shotgun. “Please, use this. It’s the least I can do to help.” She said and flipped her weapon, holding it by the barrel and leaving the handle free to grab by either of them.

Trish stared at the weapon for a beat and slowly wrapped her fingers around the handle carefully. She was being a bit cautious due to the fact her fingers still had tiny scorch marks from being too close to the barrel last time she had used it. Ariel released her grip on her shotgun and tried to smile as the demoness held it cautiously, as if it were about to explode any minute. “‘Give them Hell,’ as they say, _oui_?”

“Thank you, Ariel.” Trish smiled, running her fingers along the designs on the sides of the shotgun. Ariel has apparently painted it, replacing the previous blue and white to a more calmer tone of navy and burgundy. She saw the word _‘Ultraviolet’_ was written in cursive on a section of the weapon, she had assumed it was the name of the weapon. “I’ll be sure to give it back to you after we come home.”

“I do not doubt that one bit, _mes aimes_!” Ariel said happily, trying to cheer her friends’ moods up even by a bit. She was mildly successful as evidenced by the smiles amongst the Devil May Cry team, which was completely fine by her. She just wished she could all bring them into one large hug, but she didn’t want to waste any more of their time.

Patty eventually joined outside and her and Ariel watched as their friends board Ray’s jet. It was quiet, no goodbyes were said in fear that it’d be the final one. The two watched as the jet rise up and fly off, disappearing into the evening sky.

\---

The flight was silent, not a single word was spoken between the group. They all knew exactly what they were entering and what had to be done. Wade removed his mask and placed his headphones in, closing his eyes as he allowed the music to relax him. Lady had her head rested on Trish’s shoulder and she held her hand tight, while the latter focusing on breathing techniques to ease her creeping anxiety. Dante was busy sharpening Rebellion and Yamato for the umpeenth time, it seemed like at this point he simply did it to pass the time.

Bulleta however was texting her friends certain instructions that greatly worried them. Kaine, Joe and Silvia reluctantly accepted her request to stop by the Devil May Cry office to make sure Patty and Ariel were doing okay. She received a few final messages from Kaine before she had placed away her phone.

_Kaine Parker: id go with you but_

_Kaine Parker: i dont want to_

A small grin came across her face, she knew he really didn’t mean it in any rude way, that was simply how he was. She typed up a simple _‘Thanks’_ as a reply and pocketed her phone, proceeding to mentally prepare herself for the mission.

Eventually Ray announced their arrival at their stop: the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, a massive aircraft carrier capable of traversal in air and sea. This time though, it was based in the ocean as it made its way towards Mallet Island. The Devil May Cry team exited the Quinjet’s back hatch and entered the central control tower. They entered the room and didn’t expect to see so many familiar faces waiting for them: T’Challa, Chuck, Lilith, Anti-Venom, C. Viper, Wanda and Pietro all stood up once the group arrived.

“Good to see you all again, my allies.” greeted T’Challa, in his Black Panther armor minus its helmet.

Chuck nodded in the direction of his friends, “Glad you guys aren’t backing out of this one.”

“You kiddin’ me?” Dante scoffed with a grin, “There’s no way we’re missing out on the biggest demon hunt of the year.”

C. Viper cleared her throat, gaining everyone’s attention. “We should save the good times after we prevent a demonic apocalypse from happening.” She spoke sternly and she used her bionic arm to start up a machine that projected a video before them all. It was a video of Mallet Island, their current destination. “Thanks to the help of King T’Challa, we were finally able to locate the final stronghold of the Mundus Unit. We’re planning an all out attack on the island before Alexis Wesker can complete their plan of bringing back the demon king Mundus.”

“Seems simple enough.” Trish said with her arms crossed. “But I thought the island was destroyed?”

“It only looked like it.” Lilith continued off of C. Viper’s explanation. “We reviewed the video of when you and Dante escaped the island. Turns out the explosion wasn’t enough to destroy the entire island.”

The redhead agent nodded and showed another video, the same island. In seconds it was consumed by a purple explosion that erupted from the center castle. Once the smoke had subsided, it revealed that everything but the castle itself was damaged by the explosion.

“How could that be?” Pietro questioned with his brows arched.

Dante’s teeth grit behind his closed lips. He knew he should’ve checked back in on the island again to ensure everything was actually destroyed. “Demonic castle made for one of the baddest demons out there, it’s no surprise Mundus put in some insurance on his castle to make sure it didn’t get wiped out.”

C. Viper changed up the video again to show the island in current time. It looked as if Hell swept over it, which is exactly what happened. The sky was strangely a chilling blood orange fading into a deep red and lined with bits of darkened clouds. Even the ocean lost its blue hue, looking a murky oily color instead. Whatever greenery had grown on the island were reduced into burnt and charred versions of their past selves. “Some time later, the island was discovered by Alexis Wesker. We don’t know what they found or saw, but after their trip to the island they created the Mundus Unit and that’s how it all began.”

“When I looked into the mind of Alexis Wesker, I saw flashes of demonic images and messages that I could not comprehend.” Wanda commented, “I broke away just in time before it had corrupted me as well... but it is safe to assume Alexis was not as lucky.”

“So they’re under Mundus’ control, same with the rest of their unit. Atleast the humans in the unit are.” Bulleta deduced from the information.

“Exactly.” Lilith confirmed, “And the demons under their command are warriors that had remained loyal to Mundus, looking for any possible way to bring their king back.”

“And we shall not allow their plans to reach its goal. We shall halt them in their tracks.” T’Challa said nobly. “We are still collecting others who are willing to fight for this cause, but we must begin the attack as soon as possible.”

“King T’Challa and his nation’s most skilled military units will aid us in the battle too. It’ll certainly give us the edge in this battle.” C. Viper explained as she brought up a map of the island. “But just going in guns blazing won’t win the war. We need to get Dante and his team inside the castle as quick as possible so that they can stop Wesker before they finish summoning Mundus.”

“Where the hell would they be though?” asked Lady.

“Thankfully we have someone on the inside that’s been giving us information ever since he has snuck in their ranks.” The agent continued on, showing a picture of a large center room with an aged marble statue of what appeared to be a worshipped god. There were multiple figures, human and demon, bowing down before the statue, along with Alexis Wesker standing at the front of the worshipping figures. The floor was lined with glowing red pentagrams, sacrificed corpses and black candles. “We believe this is where Wesker plans to summon Mundus.”

“I know exactly where that is too.” Dante said with a snap of his finger. Trish agreed with a nod as well, the two of them still freshly remembering the castle’s interior.

“Dante and Trish’s knowledge of the castle’s layout will definitely give us the upper hand as well. So this is how we’re going to get you all in there…” C. Viper returned the screen to the map of the island itself. “We will tackle the most vulnerable side of the island with ground forces with naval and air support, with T’Challa and his unit leading the attack. They all will be facing heavy resistance from the humans and demons of Mundus Unit but that’ll create enough of a distraction for us to fly a Quinjet with Dante and his team as quick as possible towards the closest area of that room. Both Dante’s and Chuck’s teams will have to fight their way up the two stone pathways and meet on both sides of the room, effectively boxing Alexis Wesker inside the castle.”

“Oh man, thank goodness we made all these friends on the way throughout this story, otherwise we’d be going in this shit completely alone and most likely to our deaths.” Deadpool joked to himself.

“And one last thing. We’re gonna make sure by the end of this day, that island will be reduced to nothing.” C. Viper said with her arms crossed. “While Dante and his team stops Alexis Wesker, we’ll have a team sneak in as well to plant a unique explosive made by one of our top scientists, Dr. Siegmund Richtofen, that should be able to completely destroy the demonic castle and the island with it.”

“We leave at 1900 hours. Get whatever you need.” Chuck stated, meaning they had approximately 30 minutes to finish up last minute preparations. He looked over the Devil May Cry team, “If any of you want to stock up on different or unique weaponry, stop by Dr. Richtofen’s lab if you can.”

With that, everyone broke off from the planning table. Dante had stayed back with T’Challa to converse about the upcoming battle and Deadpool reviewed the plans over with C. Viper and Chuck, but not before telling Lady, Trish and Bulleta to grab him whatever weapon looked to fit his personality.

\---

Dr. Siegmund Richtofen was not what they expected. Instead of a stereotypical mad scientist with wild grey hair that possibly created monsters in his downtime, they met with a young, timid man with dark hair brushed to the side and in a oil covered military working uniform. He greeted the devil huntresses kindly and had shown them briefly around his laboratory before going off into the back to retrieve weapons.

Trish hadn’t really wanted to come down here, but she wanted to stick by Lady’s side for a feeling of safety. She still questioned herself why she decided to come along for this mission, but she knew she had to face her fears and fight. She knew things would be much worse if she didn’t.

“Ohohoho!” Lady laughed after she had finished firing from a smoking HK21 machine gun. The weapon had a strange, demonic like texture coating it and when the weapon fired the bullets were imbued with some type of magic (most likely demonic as well) that ripped right through the test dummies. “Now _this_ I can get used to!”

“ _Ja_ , ve have been experimenting with different types of veapons to fight against ze demon hordes.” The scientist stated, he spoke in a German accent. He looked over to Bulleta lifting up a tri-barreled minigun weapon from a crate and examining it. “Oh! Zat is ze Death Machine! Dempsey made up ze name, but it is un beautiful piece of German ingenuity created by yours truly.”

“Death Machine, huh?” Bulleta asked with a smirk and she aimed down the chaingun. She spun up the barrel and fired a barrage of red colored bullets down the firing range, completely destroying the test dummies Lady hadn’t already shot up to bits. She halted her firing and the barrel slowed down, almost surprised at the amount of power and kick it had. “Oh yeah, I’m keeping this. Gotta represent Germany too, right Doc?”

“Vithout a doubt, Miss Krieger!” Richtofen said with a chuckle. “But ja, please keep ze veaponry! I vould hate for zem to all go to vaste, zey are all such masterpieces!” They noticed he was strangely giddy about weapons, he was seemingly shy at first before the topic came up.

“Thanks Doc!” Lady thanked, allowing her new weapon to hang on her hip from a strap. “Let’s get going, we’re about to hit the island soon!”

“Miss Sparda, vill you not take a veapon?” The scientist asked curiously after noticing the demoness hadn’t really touched anything in the lab.

Trish bit her bottom lip and shrugged her shoulders. She leaned over to a crate and randomly pulled out a 6-barreled grenade launcher and a belt of grenades accompanying it. “Guess I’ll take this?” She said, sounding a bit unsure. Already being satisfied with Luce and Ombre plus Ariel’s Ultraviolet, she concluded she’d simply give the grenade launcher to Deadpool.

“ _Vunderbar_!” Richtofen said, smiling from ear to ear. The three demon huntresses were making their way out after saying their thanks and goodbyes. The scientist waved at them, “Good luck to you und your allies and send ze demons back to ze hole zey crawled out of! Und greet Dempsey, Belinski und Masaki for me!”

After they had left, the scientist returned to his laboratory and rolled his sleeves further up. He made a grab for a dirtied white sheet and removed it, revealing a menacing looking device that contained a crackling red energy inside its clear, reinforced cylinder. It was the explosive C. Viper had ordered to decimate Mallet Island. Orders were specific to use both regular human and demonic resources to create something powerful. He felt his hand on the cylinder, feeling a slight surge of energy from the demonic energy behind the glass. “I pray zis vorks…”

\---

The sounds of explosions, far and near, were heard from outside the jet. The turbulence didn’t make it any better nor was the soldiers screaming over the radio before Ray decided to turn it down a bit as not to disturb their passengers. “We’ll be landing in--” Ray jolted the Quinjet a sharp right, barely dodging a gigantic speeding fireball from a larger demon on the island ground. “--30 seconds! Get ready!”

Dante cracked his neck and undid his seat belts, Yamato’s hilt being held firmly in his hand. Bulleta slung the Death Machine behind her, cracking her knuckles impatiently. Deadpool pulled over his mask and brought his fist to a control panel that opened up the Quinjet’s hatch. Trish and Lady stood together, grasping each other's hand and sharing one final look before they prepared to jump.

“Kick ass out there guys!” Ray cheered their friends as they flipped a switch, finally signalling the team to jump.

“Let’s get this party started!” Dante exclaimed and was the first to jump off, his team not too far behind him. He unsheathed Yamato and drove it down into a screaming demon’s throat. He swung his brother’s blade to the side and began slicing apart numerous other devils that lunged for him. Deadpool landed in a roll next to his partner and opened fire with his M4 carbine at any of the monsters Dante hadn’t already sliced apart.

Before even landing, Lady fired Kalina Ann down and cleared out a group of demons, allowing her some space to land. As she reloaded, Trish landed beside her and brandished Ultraviolet, blasting a burst of white flames at two demons. Bulleta touched down with the floor and heaved forward the Death Machine and fired at a hulking horned devil, ripping it from limb to limb with the bullets of the weapon.

Dante returned Yamato to its sheathe after the demons in their immediate area were finally taken out. They couldn’t waste anymore time though, the entire island was pouring with enemy combatants that were now alerted of their presence. He spotted the old stone pathway he had once used to get into the castle itself, feeling some sort of strange nostalgia at the sight of it. “Let’s get moving.” He told his team and they all ran forwards to follow his lead.

Other demons were already spawning from the walls and gargoyles armed with scythes swooped in from the sky, all gunning for the Devil May Cry team. Bulleta revved up her minigun again and shot the gargoyles out of the sky while Lady sliced apart one of the more larger demons with Kalina Ann’s bayonet. Trish looked over to the side to see demons advancing towards them by crawling up the cliff side and she blasted each one of them off using the angelic shotgun.

Deadpool spun around and struck a roundhouse kick to the jaw of a spider-like demon. As it was dazed he sliced its head clean off with one of his katana blades and kicked the body off the cliff. Dante spun out Ebony and Ivory and called for his friends to keep moving forward as he landed headshots on any demon that stood in their way.

As Bulleta slung back the Death Machine, she looked over to the side to see the fighting on the island grounds below them. Explosions blasted multiple demons and Mundus Unit soldiers in every direction, glowing red portals summoned even more devils to replace one that had been killed. For a brief moment she spotted T’Challa, in his Black Panther armor, quickly slicing apart the throats of two horned devils. Behind him was Dempsey, Belinski and Masaki, alongside the rest of their allied soldiers that continuing to fight on against the Mundus Unit.

The group passed by a squad of Mundus Unit soldiers operating a gun emplacement. The soldiers barely had time to react when both Deadpool and Lady dropped grenades by their feet. “Make sure to say ' _Team Rocket’s_ blasting off again!'” The Merc with the Mouth laughed with Lady as they both sprinted to catch up with their friends and avoid being caught in the explosion. The grenades blew apart the gun emplacement and sent the soldiers down into the waters below, as well as blocking up the path and stopped the demons that were tailing them in their tracks.

A massive demon with a cracked porcelain mask and a bloody jaw in its belly manifested from the ground and aimed its arm cannons at the team. The demon fired bursts of fireballs at the Devil May Cry team and they all went different directions to get out of the way. One of the fireballs landed near Lady and she was knocked off the cliff. She swung Kalina Ann out and fired its bayonet right at the side of the large demon, effectively halting her fall. Trish sighed with relief seeing her girlfriend still safe and she angrily charged the demon, tackling it straight to the side of the stone wall. Dante ran up behind her and stabbed Rebellion right through the devil to pin it into the wall. “Kat, Wade, cover us!” He called to his friends.

The demon was not going to give in as it let out a roar to call for back up and fired its arm cannons again wildly. Deadpool teleported out of the way of a shot, while Bulleta performed a sideflip out of harm’s way. The merc reappeared behind a horned demon and sliced it in half with his katana, before teleporting again to dodge a strike from a hammer wielding centaur demon.

Lady pressed a small button on her rocket launcher and the bayonet began to pull her upwards. She spotted more gargoyle demons flying towards her, but only for them to be shot out of the skies by Bulleta. She shot her friend a grin and continued climbing back up to the fight.

Dante ducked down to avoid a claw swipe from a chimera demon, then thrusted Ebony and Ivory straight into its lion portion of its body and fired. The demon’s multiple heads screeched in agony and its snake tail shot towards the demon hunter with its fangs ready to dig into his neck. Deadpool grabbed the snake portion of the chimera just in time and he bended its jaws back until it snapped.

Trish aimed Ultraviolet back at the chimera’s goat portion and blew apart its head, allowing both Dante and Deadpool to shove its body off the cliffside. She pushed the shotgun’s lever reload with her knuckles and upon seeing Lady make it back, she drove the weapon into the mask of the arm cannon demon and fired. The devil’s mask and head was ripped apart by the white flames and it fell over off the path, being impaled by the sharpened rocks below.

“They are really trying hard to keep us from reaching the castle.” Deadpool pointed out aloud as they continued up the path.

Lady scoffed and unslung her demonic HK21 machine gun from her hip. “Bring ‘em all on then! I’ll take out every single one of these bastards!”

“We can’t waste anymore time though.” Bulleta said and just as she had said this more demons appeared in view and dashed for them. “Are you fucking--”

A speeding blue blur knocked away the demons off the cliff, accompanied by a red mist that crushed and slammed them into the stone walls and ground. The team looked on as Pietro finished tackling the final demon off the cliffside and showing a toothy grin to them, along with Wanda who was floating down using her magic. “Wait, weren’t you guys with Chuck?” questioned Trish as they resumed moving on, the twins running by their side as well.

“We were cut off from them when the creatures destroyed part of the cliff!” Wanda explained as she used her magic to simply throw off another grouping of demons aside. “It is just Chuck, Lilith and Anti-Venom now, I believe they have already reached the castle.”

Dante grit his teeth, he hoped they weren’t all falling into some type of trap set up by Alexis Wesker. He knew they had to move quick now, his friends could need their help. “Then like Kat said, we can’t waste anymore time!”

Pietro pulled his goggles over his eyes and stretched his fingers. “I will clear path, then! Just keep moving!” Without even waiting for a response, he dashed away ways ahead of the team. They only saw demons being thrown off towards the side or knocked hard into the ground.

\---

With a hard punch, Chuck was sent crashing down onto the bloody marble floor. He seethed in pain and kept himself propped with his forearms, looking up at Alexis Wesker and a group of demons standing before him. Alexis held the motocrosser’s shotgun in their hands and with a grin they snapped the weapon in half, tossing both pieces in front of him.

He grit his teeth at the sight and slowly brought himself up, looking to his left and right. Lilith was busy facing off with two demonic samurai armors with multiple arms and blades and Anti-Venom was trading blows with a monstrous elephantaur demon, while at the same time avoiding energy arrows shot from Taskmaster. His grey blue eyes finally landed on Alexis Wesker who was patiently awaiting his next move. “You cannot stop what is to come, Greene.” They said in a dark voice.

“No way in hell we’ll ever give up.” Chuck spat back with his fists balled up.

“Oh you aren’t in Hell yet...” Alexis smirked and called off their demons, leaving them to fight one on one. “You’re going to be wishing you were there though after I get finished with you.” They said, eyes glowing blue beneath their dark sunglasses.

**To Be Continued...**


	32. Release Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inside the castle of Mundus, the Devil May Cry team face off against the powerful demons and Alexis Wesker.

Chuck wiped the blood seeping from his mouth with his forearm, his condition was drastically different from Alexis Wesker. He had only managed to land a few blows on them by pure luck, after all he was only human compared to their superhuman abilities. Still, he knew he couldn’t give up. His daughter, Katey, appeared in his mind and the thought of her calmed his senses and eased his breathing.

Alexis stepped forward and disappeared in a teleport, prompting Chuck to brace himself. They had reappeared to his side and he ducked his head down to avoid a quick fist. He caught the mad scientist in a headlock, wrapping his arm around their neck. He threw his weight down and allowed Alexis’ face to strike the ground first as they both fell. Soon his grip on them disappeared as they teleported away and he scrambled to get up, arming himself with his handgun.

Every shot he had fired was instantly dodged with a teleport from Alexis. They returned fire with their own pistol and he was shot in the leg, bringing him on one knee as he yelled out in pain.

Lilith heard her partner shout and she pushed the demonic samurai off her. She transformed her wings into jet boosters and immediately tackled Alexis into a stone wall. Before the succubus could land another strike with her fist, her opponent teleported out of the way, leaving her to punch right through the wall. She turned around, her bat wings forming into long spiked branches that fired a burst of mini rockets that blew apart all around the room in hopes of one of them catching Alexis.

The succubus saw for a blink of an eye the blue colored distort in reality, Alexis’ teleport had been interrupted and they were knocked to the side. She couldn’t let them gain their bearings and Lilith shot herself forward towards the scientist, landing a spinning double kick to their head. As Alexis was thrown to another direction, Lilith touched down with the floor and struck her palms into the ground, summoning glowing crimson blades that sliced through the ground and towards Alexis.

Alexis felt one of the blades pierce through their side and then held a hand over the injury before teleporting out of the way again. They reappeared with their handgun aimed at Lilith, only for it to be shot out of their hand by Chuck who was still keeping himself in the fight. Before Alexis could retaliate towards the motocrosser, the succubus summoned a horde of vampire bats to swarm around them.

They attempted to teleport away but the bats seemed to been able to track their every move once they had a single taste of their blood. “Taskmaster, assist me!” They angrily called out to the mercenary.

Taskmaster had been raining down energy arrows at Anti-Venom but upon hearing his employer’s cry he scoffed and aimed in their direction. As he pulled back an arrow from his bow, he didn’t fire a single bolt as he watched Lilith blast a Soul Fist at Alexis, flinging them back from the explosive magic. Alexis got back up to their feet and performed multiple continuous teleports to spread out the bats until they were able to get Lilith by themselves. The scientist appeared in front of the succubus and they landed a powerful palm strike to her chest.

Lilith’s bats caught her before she struck the ground and they all dispersed again to attack Alexis. She was going to continue her barrage until she noticed one of the samurai armor demons was preparing to strike an unaware Chuck. She called her bats back to her to form her wings and she thrusted herself to punch right through the samurai’s armor. Her eyes burned a crimson red and she heaved the demonic armor away as it blew apart in pieces.

“Are you okay?” She asked her partner worriedly, crouching down to him and holding him by his shoulders.

“I’m fine.” Chuck assured her as he felt his hands around hers. “I’m--” He noticed something out of the corner of his eye: Alexis Wesker picking up one of the blades of the late second samurai armor demon and teleporting out of sight. His hands tensed up, fingers locked around his partner’s wrists. He acted before he even thought.

In the blink of an eye, Lilith felt her body flipped around and Chuck had taken her place on top instead. She witnessed Alexis teleport right behind them and a breathless gasp escaped her lips when she saw a blade piece through Chuck’s chest. Her crimson eyes met with his grey blue eyes, they were both in total shock. The tip of the blade barely leaving a scratch on her combat vest, but blood began dripping on it one by one. The world had seemed to have slown down, but it actually had in someone’s perspective.

The first thing Pietro saw immediately shocked him: Alexis Wesker had stabbed Chuck through his chest with a blade, he had saved Lilith from the attack. His legs acted on their own and he rushed Alexis, striking them across the face with a hard punch. They were now flung mid-air, but everything was still in a near stop. He ran over to the other side and with his teeth grit he struck them again in the chest, sending them across the other way.

Every time the speedster struck the scientist, he made sure to look back at Chuck and Lilith. His anger grew more and more and he grabbed a hold of Alexis’ coat. He sped up the walls with his opponent in tow until he had done multiple laps around the walls of the castle. With a shout he ended it with striking Alexis right through the stone wall. Time returned to its normal speed as he halted his run, the amount of speed he had used was enough to send Alexis crashing through enough walls of the castle to keep them down for some time.

“CHUCK!” Lilith finally screamed out, holding her partner’s body in her arms. His breathing was faltering and her shaking hands glew a light blue as she held it over the wound. “C-Chuck! Listen to me, I-I can fix this. I can get you better, I swear!”

“L-Lilith…” Chuck muttered, his eyes were distant now but he never stopped looking into her eyes.

“Come on, come on!” She shouted at herself, her healing magic barely doing anything. “Please, Chuck! Y-You can get through this, right?! We can get through this! We’ve gone through everything together, Chuck!”

Anti-Venom looked up, he had just finished defeating the elephantaur demon. “ _No…_ ” He said under his breath before rushing over to his friends, “ _NO!_ ”

Pietro removed his goggles and looked solemnly on at the sight, his mouth hanging slightly open. He was filled with regret. He looked over to his twin sister, who was accompanied by Dante, Deadpool, Trish, Lady and Bulleta who had just caught up. They all rushed over to their friend, leaving Wanda and Pietro the only ones standing a bit further back.

“Please Chuck…” Lilith sobbed. Her own tears stained her hands that were already covered in the blood of her partner. “P-Please don’t… I can save you, I can…”

Chuck shook his head and held his partner’s hands with his own. Everything felt like it was getting colder and colder, his head was going light, something past Lilith’s head looked like a bright white light. As his eyes focused more on his partner again… despite her being a demon, she looked like an absolute angel to him. “It’s okay, Lilith…” He whispered, tears having already escaped the edges of his eyes. “It’s… it’s okay…”

“N-No! I’m not losing you, I’m not!” She refused, trying to focus more on her healing magic that still resulted in nothing. She had already tired out most of her magic on fighting Alexis. “R-Remember we’ve been through tougher things than this right? Remember when we fought Carnage, t-that’s when we first met, right? Chuck, remember the time I invited you to my mansion in the demon world? That was such a fun night, remember? C-Chuck… we were gonna go home after this, didn’t you tell me that? R-Remember this was gonna be our last mission, Chuck...?”

Chuck smiled a bit and he attempted a weak nod. “Katey was so excited to finally meet you… you… you would’ve loved her.” His tears were now pouring. He thought about his daughter and how she was expecting him to come home. “T-Tell Katey…” He grasped his partner’s hands once more. “I-I’m sorry. A-And that... daddy loves her so much and he missed her every single day.”

“C-Chuck?” Lilith stuttered. “N-No, you’re going to see Katey soon, you _will_ I swear!”

“Lilith…” Chuck felt his hand around the succubus’ cheek. “T-Take care of her for me, please…”

She felt breathless now and she quickly nodded. “I…” She began, but trailed off when she felt her partner’s hand let go of her cheek. Her scarlet eyes watched as his hand went limp, his own eyes were empty now. “Chuck? N-No, please… _please_ don’t do this… please… Chuck! CHUCK?! _CHUCK_!”

As the succubus screamed for his name, she sobbed into his chest as she rocked his body in her arms. Dante and Deadpool had their head lowered, the former turning away to strike the wall with his fist in rage. Trish had her hand over her mouth, still in total shock at seeing her friend just die. She dug her face into Lady’s chest who held her tight to comfort her. Bulleta had already fallen on one knee, using one of her hands to cover up her face as she attempted to fight back the tears.

“I…” Pietro started, he was standing with Wanda in front of Lilith. The regret was eating him alive. “I am sorry. I… I should have gotten here in time.”

Lilith didn’t respond, she only continued sobbing into Chuck’s chest. “I…” She whispered to herself in a tiny voice. “I-I didn’t even get to tell him… how I …”

Wanda looked over at her twin and rested her hand on his shoulder. He was staring wide eyed at the demoness who held her fallen partner. She felt the regret and sadness growing inside him. “ _Always…_ ” He whispered in Sokovian. “ _I am_ always _too late…_ ” He turned to his sister, his eyes glossy due to the tears that threatened to burst from them.

The telekinetic girl felt an incoming presence and her own eyes went wide when Alexis Wesker suddenly teleported right behind her twin brother. Alexis grabs a hold of the speedster in a chokehold and held a handgun to his head. “PIETRO!” Wanda screamed and used her magic to pull the scientist away from her twin brother. This ended up with Alexis causing a misfire, a bullet going straight through Pietro’s leg. He shouted out in pain and fell forwards, only for Bulleta to catch him just before he crash landed.

Fury burned in Wanda’s glowing red eyes and with her teeth bared like a wild animal, she used both of her hands to summon her magic around Alexis. She slowly closed her hands together as the rest mist around Alexis was slowly crushing them. “You will _never_ hurt anyone ever again!” She shouted with venom.

“Wanda, get out of the way!” Bulleta exclaimed and pushed her aside from an energy bolt shot by Taskmaster. This had interrupted her magic and it temporarily freed Alexis.

Everyone was just about to rush Alexis to make them pay for they had done, but Lilith got to them first. The succubus screamed in rage as she impaled the mad scientist through multiple barbed harpoons. She slammed Alexis down onto the ground and flew upwards, transforming her wings again into the spiked branches and fired every single missile into Alexis. The ground eventually caved in and Alexis fell down into the darkness along with chunks of the ground and a few stray missiles.

She turned over to Taskmaster and immediately summoned a horde of bats towards him. “Not today, kid!” He said and threw down a flashbang grenade, blinding the succubus and her bats for a moment as he jumped down the hole she had created to catch up with his employer. He had barely dodged the gunshots fired by Bulleta and Deadpool.

Lilith touched back down to the ground to where her late partner was. She dropped down again on her knees and held his body in her arms again. She took one last look into his grey blue eyes before closing them to allow him finally to rest peacefully. As she rocked her partner’s body, she looked over briefly at Pietro and Wanda. The speedster was breathing hard but he looked back at the succubus, the same amount of regret still filled his eyes as his twin sister attempted to remove the bullet from his leg and stop the bleeding.

“You all go on ahead.” Wanda told the others shakily, most of her focus on her twin’s wound. “I will watch after everyone here.”

Anti-Venom nodded, taking one last brief look at Pietro and Chuck before looking over the hole Lilith had created. He shot down a web line and attached it to the side of the hole. “ _We should be able to climb down and find Alexis and Taskmaster._ ”

The rest of the Devil May Cry team only offered Lilith, Wanda and Pietro solemn and regretful looks before pressing on forward. As his friends all began climbing down the web line Anti-Venom had made, Dante took one last glance back at Chuck, still being held in Lilith’s arms. His gloved hands balled up, he knew he was going to make Alexis Wesker pay for this one. He turned back down and was the last one to begin climbing down.

\---

The Black Panther leapt forward and pounced a gorgon demon. He snapped the demon’s neck effortlessly and tore its head clean off. While other demons were rushing towards the warrior king in, he held the head up by its mass of snakes that acted as its hair and used the late demon’s cursed gaze to turn his opponents into stone. The stone statues of demons crumbled into nothing but pebbles once they struck the floor hard enough. “Onwards!” He shouted and threw the gorgon’s head onto the ground.

Dempsey stomped the gorgon’s head with his boot and lifted up a minigun to fire at every devil in sight. “Oh yeah! Bring it meat sacks!”

The King of Wakanda performed a high jump over a cyclops demon, on the way up he used his claws to tear out the single eye of the creature. He landed behind the monster and continued striding forward as Dempsey and Belinski opened fire and finished off the blinded demon.

Masaki ran side by side with the Black Panther while the rest of the soldiers followed, “The number of demons have increased as we push forward, your highness.” The captain noted in a calm manner. “Could we possibly be reaching a heavily guarded location?”

“It would seem so, Captain Masaki.” Black Panther answered, spotting a reinforced gate that had been slightly hidden away in the rocks and greenery. The gate sounded an alarm and groups of Mundus Unit soldiers and demons appeared from the sides as the gate itself slowly began to close.

“We must all make it inside the gate!” Masaki called over to his men with his katana raised.

“Does that not seem like bad idea?!” Belinski questioned and side stepped an incoming fireball that had almost burnt through his armor.

The Black Panther didn’t answer and he continued pushing onwards his sprint. He knew if he were going to find any answers on the Mundus Unit, it’d be this heavily guarded and secretive location. He still remembered his promise he had made to Dante: to reunite him with his twin brother. The bullets fired from the Mundus Unit operatives simply fell flat onto the ground as it struck his armor, but the demons were another problem.

Masaki sliced apart a satyr demon with his blade, then spun around to a crouch to cut right through the front legs of yet another unfortunate devil. He rushed himself to keep up with the King of Wakanda, who actually had been running non stop at Olympic worthy levels. He hadn’t even had time to look back to the other soldiers, hoping they were right on his tail.

From the ground, bursts of hellfire spewed everywhere and two cerberus demons rose from the flames. The demonic multi-headed mutts growled and shot forwards to the Black Panther and Masaki. One attempted to pounce the two until it was shot out of the way by Dempsey.

“If you guys really wanna get in there, then we’ll cover you!” He shouted to them as he and the group of soldiers halted their running and began fighting back against the demons. They had no choice now that the gate was closing, so they had to atleast clear a path for the two gunning for it.

“I _despise_ these fucking hell pigs!” Belinski complained aloud as he rolled out of the way of a cerberus demon. He lifted himself back up and fired his shotgun, blowing apart one of the heads to the cerberus.

Just as the gate was going to close, Masaki and the Black Panther slid under it and were gone from the sight of their allies. Dempsey, Belinski and the rest of the soldiers got together in a circle as demons began flooding from all sides.

Belinski looked around as he frantically loaded up his shotgun. The small, man sized demons have been replaced with much larger ones that had much better resistance to small arms fire. “Oh son of bitch. Perhaps this was not best idea…”

Dempsey cursed to himself silently and noticed his comrades nervousness as well. He grit his teeth and lifted up his minigun. “If we’re going down, we’re going down taking these demon freak sacks with us straight back to Hell!”

All the soldiers let out battle cries as they fought to their last man. Operatives left and right were being shot with fireballs or ripped apart by demons that got close enough. Belinski struck a demon with his emptied shotgun and as he was reaching for his handgun, one of the cerberus demons chomped its jaws around his neck. As his brother-in-arm let out a blood curdling scream that quickly turned into a disturbing gurgle, Dempsey turned around and allowed his chaingun to rip the demonic mutt to shreds. He was the last one standing as he stared into the now lifeless eyes of his best friend, along with the other bodies of the men and women that were serving under his command. “YOU BASTARDS!” He shouted from the top of his lungs and lifted his weapon up again.

Dempsey didn’t even have a chance to fire again as multiple imp demons crowded him, tearing his weapon right out of his hands. Another cerberus demon chomped down on his leg and began tearing it off. Multiple devils crowded around the soldier and continuously struck him with blades or used their claws to rip his armor and limbs off. “Soldiers don’t just die... “ He muttered with his final breath. “We go to Hell and regroup... “ With the last bit of strength he had left, he pulled the pin off a grenade with his teeth and remaining hand. “So see you soon, freak bags!” He exclaimed with a manic laugh before an explosion ripped him and the demons around him apart in a fiery blast.

\---

Rebellion was flung forwards and it pierced right through the chest of a demonic puppet. The demonic broadsword shot out of the demon’s chest and it faded away in a purple mist, while the sword returned to the hand of its owner. Dante spun around and clashed blades with more demonic puppets that were armed with bloodied hooks and pendulum blades.

They had cornered Alexis Wesker in one of the more deeper parts of the castle, a nearly flooded dungeon with a single exit being a wooden spiked gate. Trish and Lady were dealing with the mad scientist, while Bulleta, Dante, Anti-Venom and Deadpool were facing off with the lesser demons they had summoned.

“We’re not going to let you bring back Mundus!” Lady said through her teeth as her and Alexis struggled against the wall.

“And we will not let you petty demon hunters ruin our King’s plans!” The mad scientist retorted, not expecting the demon huntress to release her grip on her. Alexis looked another direction to see a lighting shots heading towards them, prompting them to teleport out of the way.

Trish spotted Alexis teleport right above her and she swung the Sparda, managing to slice their leg and interrupt their getaway teleport. Lady aimed Kalina Ann and fired a rocket, blasting Alexis down into the flooded floors of the dark dungeon. Before they could get back to their feet, Trish yelled and stabbed Sparda right through them to pin them down.

The demoness held tight on her blade and twisted it to ensure they felt even greater pain. Rage was continuously building up inside her, it hadn’t helped at all that this vile person had killed one of her friends. “Don’t you understand what you’re doing?!” She shouted down at Alexis. “If you bring back Mundus, it’s going to be the end of everything! Whatever he promised you, he will immediately betray your trust and stab you right in the back!”

“SHUT UP!” Alexis screamed back and swung their arm across Trish’s ankles, causing her to fall as well. “How could I believe you…” They spoke as they pulled the Sparda out of the chest and stood themselves back up. “When _you_ were the one who betrayed his cause!”

Lady stood over Trish and fired her Skorpion submachine gun at Alexis, following their trail of teleports. “Stand the fuck still you delusional bitch!”

Alexis had been using the Sparda to block Lady’s bullets now, but swung it behind them when they felt a presence. The blade struck with Dante’s Rebellion, the half demon looking angered beyond comprehension. “Get your hands off my father’s blade, Mundus scum.” He growled and swung Rebellion again, in which Alexis retaliated by swinging the Sparda, something he was glad they had done. “This one’s for Chuck!” He pulled out Yamato once there was an opening and he drove it straight through Alexis’ gut. “And for my brother!”

Alexis pulled the Yamato out of their gun and sent a strong kick to Dante’s chest, sending him flying back to the stone walls. “You’re _all_ delusional!” They accused back, having lost their calm demeanor over the fight. “Our King will bring us salvation and peace! Don’t you understand?!”

How they talked about _Mundus_ of all beings absolutely enraged Trish. She was going to attack the scientist until she spotted something very very tiny crawling on her blade. Alexis was flung back as Ant-Man suddenly appeared, growing in size as he delivered an uppercut to the mad scientist. He held the Sword of Sparda in both hands, a bit surprised at the amount of strength he needed to even carry the blade.

“I believe this is yours, Trish!” He said rather cheerfully to the demoness as he handed her the Sparda.

“Thank you...?” Trish said, completely surprised at the shrinking hero’s appearance. She grabbed the Sparda with one hand and balanced it over her shoulder.

Ant-Man felt the weight leave his hands with relief and then he pointed over his shoulder. “And I’m not alone!”

The demons Bulleta and Deadpool were dealing with were suddenly struck with lightning bolts, but not from their demoness friend but from the Wasp instead. She had swooped in and grew in size, landing a double legged kick into Alexis’ chest and sending them into the corner of the dungeon. “Me and Scott just decided to stop by to drop off something.” She said as she dug into her pouch and produced an oddly small machine in between her fingers. She threw it towards the direction of the cornered Alexis.

“Something that’s the _bomb_!” Ant-Man said and threw a small glowing blue disc at the device his partner threw. Once the disk collided with the small machine, it suddenly grew in size, revealing itself to be some type of bomb filled with demonic energy. Alexis had teleported out of the way before they were crushed by the suddenly massive piece of machinery.

“That was an awful pun.” Deadpool deadpanned and raised his M4 carbine at Alexis Wesker. “But not as awful as the pun-ishment this pun-k’s gonna get!”

Another grouping of demons materialized from the walls and defended Wesker. Anti-Venom let out a monstrous roar as he shot massive sharpened tendrils from both hands to pierce through the demons and thrash them across the dungeon. The Wasp flew around and fired stinger bolts at the devils to stun them, while Bulleta and Deadpool picked them off with their weapons.

“What the hell is this thing?” Dante asked Ant-Man as he was covering him with Ebony and Ivory.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said it’s the bomb!” The thief explained hurriedly as he examined the workings of the machine. “That German doctor guy just told me and Hope to bring this into the lowest part of the castle so it could bring it all down, but we didn’t expect to find you guys down here too!”

A demonic puppet appeared and howled at the two, preparing to strike them with its pendulum blades. Trish sliced the Sparda right through the demon and it faded away in a purple mist. “Plans changed.” She said sternly. “You know how to get this thing working right?”

“Uh, kinda.” Ant-Man answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “Look I’m not a scientist, I’m an engineer alright? But don’t worry!” He stumbled around as he dug into his belt pouches and pulled up a crudely folded piece of paper out. “I got instructions!”

“Don’t get it started until we take out Alexis and get everyone off the island!” Lady ordered and fired her HK21 machine gun at the ghastly cloaked demons armed with large menacing scissors.

Deadpool finished off the last of the puppet demons and he set his sights on Alexis Wesker. He saw their wounds slowly healing, something that had reminded him of his own healing factor he had lost some time ago. Still, he knew that wouldn’t stop him from beating on the mad scientist in every way possible. “Ooh, you better pray you got a good pain tolerance to go along with that.” He chuckled as he unsheathed his katana blades and spun them in his hands.

Just behind Alexis, the stone wall flipped open and revealed Taskmaster. “Don’tcha _hate_ always meetin’ like this, Wade?” He said with a laugh as he aimed his bow and arrow at the other mercenary.

Now that Deadpool was distracted, Alexis teleported next to Taskmaster’s side and the stone wall closed up. “Oh no you don’t!” The mercenary shouted out and sprinted to catch the turning wall before it had closed completely. He had barely missed it by a second and he sent a fist to the stones in rage. “They got away!” He told his friends and pressed his ear against the wall, hearing something very specific. Something being pulled upwards. “And it sounds like they’re going back up!”

“That was the secret lift.” Dante pointed out as he returned Rebellion behind him. “It leads all the way to the highest point in the castle.”

Deadpool sheathed his katana blades and tugged at his friend’s red coat. “Then we gotta beat them there!”

The half demon nodded and turned over to the rest of his team. “Right, let’s move.”

“I’ll stay back here.” Ant-Man told the others, he pressed a button on the side of his helmet that folded it back to reveal his face so he could gain a clear look on the machine. “I gotta figure this out first, but let me know when it’s good to prime it!”

Anti-Venom nodded, “ _I will stay with him, make sure no other demons get a wind of the bomb and attempt to destroy it._ ”

Trish went over to the wooden spiked gate and joined Dante in lifting it up to allow Deadpool, Lady and Bulleta to get through. The half demon released his grip and ducked under to catch up with his friends. “Hope, are you coming along?” Trish asked the Wasp with a smile.

“No doubt!” She responded and turned back to her partner briefly. “You’ll be fine here, right Scott?”

“Huh?” He asked, distracted as he was attempting to decipher the chicken scratch from the hastily written manual.

The Wasp grinned and turned to Trish and nodded. The demoness quickly released her hold on the gate and ducked under, while the Wasp shrunk in size and simply flew right through the open holes of the gate.

The group made their way up a spiral stone staircase, with Dante and Trish leading the charge. They both sensed something large and dangerous and immediately prompted the others to take cover. A large chunk of the castle walls was torn off, revealing a towering grey skinned titan demon with long black horns and a skeletal like face.

The Wasp grew back in size in almost complete shock at the sight of the monster before her. “It’s _always_ something isn’t it?!”

“Let’s aim for the back of the neck!” Deadpool shouted out while he brought out his dual katanas. “That’s how we get rid of all titans, right?!”

The towering demon attempted to reach inside for the devil hunters but multiple strands of web suddenly caught its fingers and pulled it away. They watched as the Scarlet Spider swing in from the side and deliver a punch with all of his might straight to the jaw of the demon, causing it to get knocked off balance. The wallcrawler landed in the hole the demon had made and stood up to face the devil hunters.

“What the fuck are you all staring at?” He asked gruffly after an awkward silence. “Keep going!”

“Okay then, bootleg Spider-Man.” Deadpool murmured under his breath.

Bulleta rolled her oceanic eyes, “What happened to not wanting to go with me, Kaine?”

“Yeeaaah, I still don’t.” The Scarlet Spider admitted with a shrug. “But I’m here. And we all got your back alright? So get fucking going already!” He turned around to see the titan demon recovering from his attack.

They saw Ray swoop in inside their Quinjet and open a barrage of rockets and bullets at the titan demon, continuing to hold it down. “ _Just like he said, we all got you covered!_ ” They spoke into the loudspeaker for their friends.

“I’ll help them out, the rest of you keep going!” The Wasp told her friends and she flew out through the hole and blasted lighting shots at the titan demon from all sides as the Scarlet Spider returned to the fight himself and began webbing up the demon’s eyes.

The Devil May Cry team moved on forward, only hearing the sound of bullets, lighting shots and demonic screaming behind them slowly fading away.

\---

They entered the final worshipping room where the blood stained floor was decorated with glowing pentagrams and sacrificed corpses, all being overlooked by the worshipped god statue that Dante and Trish found all too familiar. It was the same statue Mundus had used before when he displayed himself as a god to gain the trust and worship of unknowing humans.

Alexis Wesker was breathing heavily as they held onto their injured side. Their red hair was disheveled and multiple gashes and bruises were seen across their face, slowly healing. Upon catching sight of the demon hunters, they tore their already broken sunglasses off their face and crushed it in their hands. “You all will _pay_ for your constant interference…” They threatened through their bloodied teeth.

“Do you accept card?” Deadpool asked with a chuckle, but cut it off when he raised his carbine and fired the grenade launcher. The grenade shot forwards and a demon was summoned to block the shot instead.

The smoke subsided and it was another arm cannon demon, growling behind its porcelain mask. A pair of cerberus devils appeared from the shadows, along with a massive robotic like demon armed with menacing saw blades. Taskmaster was seen arming himself with his bow and arrow, standing yet again at a higher position and ready to rain down on the team. Alexis cracked their knuckles and threw off their dirtied grey blazer. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

Lady and Trish had about enough of their speaking and they both raised their weapons. The demon huntress fired a burst of rockets towards their enemies, while the demoness backed the attack up with a wide blast of electricity. The rockets struck the arm cannon demon, causing it to stumble back as Deadpool rushed it and began hacking at its flesh with his katana blades. Trish’s lighting reflected off the robotic demon and headed towards Alexis’ direction, where they promptly teleported out of the way.

Taskmaster fired down energy arrows while Bulleta ran from side to side, returning fire with her submachine gun. While Lady was facing off against the mechanical demon and dodging its saw blades, Dante and Trish went right for Alexis Wesker.

The half demon was first to attack as he slashed Yamato, ending with only striking the strange distortion his enemy always left behind when they teleported. He felt them behind him and he turned around, only for Trish to strike an electrified fist to Alexis’ side.

Alexis teleported again and this time, facing Trish. They grabbed the demoness’ hair and threw her down onto the ground, aiming a handgun to her head until Dante intervened. He had summoned Ifrit and delivered a hellfire fueled punch straight to Alexis’ jaw, sending them flinging across the entire room.

Lady aimed Kalina Ann up and fired its bayonet, piercing and catching Alexis mid air and promptly slamming them against the marble floor. She attempted to reel her enemy back but they escaped through a teleport. “Shit!” She cursed, seeing Alexis appear in the air before her with a gun drawn. Shots were fired and she quickly held Kalina Ann over herself to block some of the shots. One of the bullets managed to graze her on her arm and she grunted in pain.

The robotic demon raised up its saw blades before the distracted Lady, only for Trish to teleport in herself and stab the Sparda right through its center body. The demon began to ooze a glowing yellow ‘blood’ and it was finished off when Bulleta fired at its back with the Death Machine.

Taskmaster aimed his bow towards Deadpool, who had already overpowered the arm cannon demon. He fired an arrow towards his rival mercenary, the arrow separating into multiple mini-arrows. Deadpool saw the arrows heading to his direction and he performed a quick flip to avoid them. The arrows found their target inside the arm cannon demon instead and they all exploded, ripping the creature in multiple bloody bits and chunks. “Thanks for the help Tony, you piece of shit!” He said happily, waving at the other mercenary.

“God dammit!” Taskmaster cursed, putting his bow away and jumping down to approach Deadpool while cracking his knuckles. “We doin' this with fists, then!”

“Ooh, sounds like your last Saturday night!” Deadpool continued to mock him as he sheathed his katana blades and proceeded to trade fists with the move stealing mercenary.

Dante held his hand around the throat of one of the cerberus demon’s heads, using his other to stab Rebellion through its chest. “Someone had to put you down eventually, pup.” He said and sliced his sword upwards, leaving the demonic mutt’s corpse to slump on the floor and melt away in ashes.

He saw Alexis teleport away and he braced himself, but it had been only a distraction as the second cerberus demon pounced him from behind. He yelled out as the devil dog bit down on his shoulder while using its claws to slash at his back. Bulleta overheard her friend’s shouts and aimed the Death Machine forward, shooting the demon right off his back.

The devil huntress stepped over her downed friend and with her teeth grit, she continued firing at the devil until it had been nothing but a bullet riddled corpse. Alexis suddenly appeared right in front of her and they tore away the minigun from her hands. Bulleta attempted to defend herself by swinging her combat knife to their throat, but missed once again as they had teleported.

She used this split second to pull Dante up to his feet, the half demon looking only slightly annoyed that his coat had been ruined by the cerberus demon. They went back to back with their signature weapons in hand. “I thought I hated people with superpowers before but now...?” Bulleta complained under her breath.

“I hear ya, Kat.” Dante agreed with a smirk.

They heard the strange electronic noise above them, signalling that Alexis had teleported there. They both raised their weapons and fired upwards, some of their bullets managing to catch the mad scientist and interrupt their potential escape. Dante leaped upwards and caught Alexis by the throat, throwing them forcefully into the ground. He raised up Rebellion and was ready to strike until he heard his friend shout.

“WAIT!” Deadpool yelled, catching his friends’ attention. They looked on to see him on his knees, a blade held up against his throat. “I _kinda_ don’t wanna die right now, Fabio, so can you wait like 2 seconds pretty please with a cherry on my ass?”

“Die?” Taskmaster echoed confusedly. “What happened to that healing factor, Wade?”

“Shit’s gone. Didn’t you read Chapter 18?”

“Oh my bad man, didn’t know. And the hell do ya mean by chapters?”

“Nah it’s okay.”

“What are you waiting for Taskmaster?!” Alexis angrily shouted at the move stealing mercenary. “Finish him off already so we can get to the others!”

Taskmaster chuckled underneath his skull mask. “Yeeaaah, ‘bout that...” He began slowly, confusing everyone in the room. “This whole 'bringin’ back a demonic king to destroy the world' or whatevah, ain’t really my style.”

Alexis’ eyes glew a burning blue as they glared hard at the mercenary. “What the hell do you mean?”

“It means, ya frickin’ dope head…” He sheathed his broadsword behind him and pulled out a large demonic key that appeared to be made out of bones and sharpened teeth. It glew an eerie red and the skull designed onto it had glowing red eyes holes. “That this here key ya needed to bring  _Mundoofus_ back? Well ya ain’t gettin’ your filthy damn hands on it!”

“You... _betrayed_ me?” They said now in a more quieter voice, with a hint of disbelief. 

“Ding ding, we gotta winnah here everybody!” Taskmaster laughed a bit until smashing the key down onto the ground where it shattered into multiple pieces before fading away with a disturbing howling. “Or more like _complete_ loser… cuz surprise, I wasn’t on your side to begin with. I was workin’ for S.H.I.E.L.D. all this time, givin’ ‘em all the info and plans you told me.”

“Well, that’s a life saving twist.” Deadpool admitted with a shrug. Though he felt completely relieved on the inside that his frienemy was actually the agent C. Viper mentioned that had been helping them. He was helped up to his feet by the move stealing mercenary. “Thanks Tony!”

“Don’tcha mention it Wade.” Taskmaster dismissed with a chuckle and held up his bow and arrow, aiming right for Alexis Wesker. “And for this one? Whaddya all say? Now that they ain't bringin' Mundoofus anytime soon, let’s take ‘em in or off ‘em right here and now?”

Before anyone could even answer, they heard Alexis laughing to themself very quietly. Their laughter slowly grew louder and louder, along with sounding more manic each second passed. “You really did prove yourself to be a complete fool, Taskmaster.” They grinned, staring with crazed eyes at the mercenary. “Did you _really_ think I wouldn’t have already summoned my King before the attack begun?”

“What did you say...?” Dante questioned, surprise falling over his expression immediately.

“It means…” Alexis smiled, turning their attention towards the statue of their king that sat before everyone. “He was watching this entire time.”

The Devil May Cry team watched in shock as the statue began to crumble in on itself piece by piece, a blinding red light only shooting from each hole that was made. The room began to rumble as the pentagrams on the floor spun and expanded wildly. As Alexis let out an insane laughter, light begun to consume the entire room until no one was able to see a single thing. Then, there was nothing but silence.

\---

Inside a dimly lit dungeon, the Black Panther and Masaki stepped forward to see a young man on his knees and chained up to the wall. His exposed upper body was lined with multiple injuries that were still healing, his white hair was dirtied and left over to cover his eyes. There was a blood spattered blue coat that lay crumpled near his black pants. He felt something powerful emerge from ways above him and it alerted him. This caused him to looked upwards to the two cautiously approaching him, his ice blue eyes glared sharpened daggers at them both.

“Release me if you want to save your world...”

**To Be Continued...**


	33. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Devil May Cry team finally meet face to face with the accursed Demon King Mundus.

The light subsided, everyone’s vision slowly returned to them. Dante’s squinted eyes eased as the blinding light finally left and he looked down to see Alexis Wesker was not below him. Instead, they were standing before a large glowing figure on a knee with their head down. His eyes ran over them and to whom they had been bowing down to.

“No…” The half demon whispered in disbelief upon what he saw before him.

There he stood, the Demon King Mundus. Despite being the emperor of all demons, he presented himself in the form of a massive living statue of an angelic figure with a long beard and three glowing red eyes. In his chest there was an eye-shaped hole with a glowing source of power.

“ _Dante…_ ” The demon lord spoke in an echoing, deep voice. His glowing orbs slowly fell upon Trish, who had been frozen still this entire time. “ _And… Trish?_ ” He let out a hollow laugh, “ _Truly this is an amusing sight to behold._ ” He turned his attention to Bulleta, Deadpool and Lady for a brief moment. “ _And you two have even gotten yourselves human pets… a touching family reunion, is it not?_ ”

Trish felt as she had the wind knocked completely out of her as she stared back at the eyes of the accursed demon emperor before her. She wanted to run, she wanted to run and never come back. The memories of what he had done to her began flooding back like a tremendous tidal wave. Despite that, she couldn’t let out a single sound or even move a single muscle.

“ _What is the matter, Trish?_ ” Mundus asked the demoness, sounding mildly amused. “ _Are you not happy to see your old master?_ ”

Having just about enough, Lady stepped in front of Trish with Kalina Ann in her hands. Her eye glaring hard at the demon king with no sign of backing down. “Don’t you fucking talk to my girlfriend like that ever again.” She warned coldly through barred teeth.

Mundus let out a small laugh, “ _Humans. Still as foolish as ever._ ” He said and looked down at the single worshipper below him. “ _Rise, my servant._ ”

Alexis Wesker slowly rose to their feet and bowed their head down. “I am in your service, my King. Anything you request, I shall follow as thou art our Lord and Savior.”

“ _I request you leave our presence._ ”

The redhead felt a breeze go through them and they slowly looked up at their king, confusion having fallen over their face. “But… I can help. Together we can destroy them and finally fulfill the promises you have made to all of us.”

Mundus’ gaze set on the scientist staring back. “ _Did you really believe I would have fulfilled those meaningless little promises?_ ” He let out a deep chuckle, “ _You really are a human, Wesker._ ”

Alexis’ mouth hung slightly open in disbelief at the words they were hearing. “You… you _lied_ to us?” They whispered as their hands balled up into fists. Their eyes started glowing blue and their breathing intensified. “How _dare_ you lie to so many people that believed in you!”

“ _I do thank you and the unit you have created after my name for bringing me back to this realm._ ” Mundus admitted, “ _But that is simply not enough to earn a true spot under my command… or even my respect._ ”

“I’ve made a grave mistake...” Alexis said with their teeth grinding against each other. “But I plan to fix this!” As their eyes shined blue they rushed towards Mundus with their handgun drawn.

“ _Sadly you make yet another one._ ” Mundus said with a hint of disappointment as his three eyes glew red. In an instant three glowing red spikes shot from his eyes and impaled Alexis in their chest and stomach. “ _Now... begone._ ”

Alexis stared wide eyed at the spikes, the blue glow in their eyes slowly fading away. Their handgun fell out of their hand and as they looked up, Mundus raised his hand and with that the spikes carried Alexis in mid air. The demon king shot his hand to the right and Alexis was flung out through the walls of the castle. A massive hole was created in the walls and as the spikes faded away from Alexis, they dropped downwards to the ocean below.

“ _Now that the pest has been removed… it’s time to deal with rest of you._ ” Mundus spoke as he faced the group of devil hunters.

Taskmaster clicked his tongue and raised his bow and arrow. “You ain’t gonna be doin’ shit!” He fired three explosive arrows towards the demon king, who simply caught them in his hand and allowed them to harmlessly detonate under his stone palm.

“ _You shall be removed as well, Tony Masters. For it is not you I wish to extract my revenge on…_ ” His eyes glew again and spikes shot forward at the move stealing mercenary. The merc managed to sidestep two of them, until one found its way to his chest and soon shot him out of the room. “ _It is with the Son of Sparda and his little ‘team’ that I wish to crush under my heel._ ” He raised one hand and every exit was suddenly sealed off by a demonic spell. “ _And I shall have not a single soul interrupting my quest._ ”

“I don’t think you understand very well what you just did Mundus…” Dante said as his hand gripped on Rebellion’s hilt. “ _We’re_ not trapped in here with you. _You’re_ trapped in here with us.”

“ _We shall see about that._ ” Wings sprouted from the back of the demonic emperor and he rose up, firing multiple red laser spikes and lightning bolts down on the team.

“Let’s fucking do this!” Lady exclaimed as she slammed Kalina Ann down and fired the burst of mini homing rockets to the demon king. Some of her rockets collided with the attacks and cancelled them out completely.

“I’m not afraid... I’m _not_ afraid. _I’m not afraid_!” Trish said to herself and she took in a deep breath. She stepped forward and stood right by her girlfriend, using Luce and Ombre to fire at Mundus with electrified shots.

Deadpool slung out the 6 barreled grenade launcher and dashed to the side while simultaneously firing at his opponent. “DIE! DIE! DIE!” Bulleta was right by his side firing the Death Machine at Mundus.

As the demon king was bombarded with firepower from all sides, he flew over the group and blasted a massive fireball downwards. Dante used both Rebellion and Yamato, swinging at the fireball and effectively reflecting the attack to Mundus. The devil emperor dodged it and attempted to smash his fists down on the team.

Lady had flipped out of the way, while Trish stood her ground and caught the demon king’s fists. Her teeth grit as she held it in place with her own demonic strength. “Aim for his weak spots!” She shouted to the others who hadn’t experienced fighting the devil king before.

“Gotcha covered!” Deadpool called back and aimed the grenade launcher directly at Mundus’ face. He fired a couple grenades while Lady fired a single large rocket at their target, blinding the demon king’s view for a moment.

Bulleta revved up her minigun and fired its demonic energy fueled bullets into the glowing hole that was centered on Mundus’ chest. This clearly had an effect as the demon king staggered suddenly at the attack and attempted to cover it up with a hand. Trish used this moment to lift up the devil emperor’s hand and use the Sparda to slash at his hand.

“ _How insulting you use that accursed blade against me._ ” Mundus said as he reeled his hand back from the attack. He spotted Dante hopping aboard his arm and rapidly slicing at it with Yamato.

The half demon performed a front flip off the demon king’s arm once there were multiple summoned fireballs gunning for his direction. He landed into a roll and brandished his twin handguns, firing wildly into Mundus’ weak spot.

As the demon king was distracted, a bayonet struck against the back of his neck. Lady reeled herself in with Kalina Ann and she landed on his shoulder. “I’m gonna make you fucking pay for what you did to Trish _and_ Dante’s family!” She shouted with anger and planted an explosive in the demon’s ear.

“ _I would like to see you try, human._ ” Mundus said as he ignored the explosion on the side of his head. He attempted to make a grab for the devil huntress, only for her to hop out of the way. Something in her hands slightly surprised him, an Angel Arm.

“Love from Ariel!” Lady said and fired Ultraviolet directly in Mundus’ chest, a destructive blast of flaming pellets spewed from the barrel and struck the demon king. He was sent stumbling back from the attack and backed himself up against the stone wall, crushing it.

Dante slashed Rebellion across the ground three times in quick succession, creating glowing white waves of energy that struck the legs of Mundus. The demon king fired a burst of glowing spikes to the devil hunter, some managing to impale him and he was sent flinging back.

As Mundus recovered from the attack from Ultraviolet, he used his wings and flapped them forward. A strong gust of wind blew through the entire room, lifting some of the hunters off their feet. As Dante rolled against the ground, Deadpool teleported in his path and caught his friend. Bulleta flew back and struck her back against the stone wall, letting out a pained grunt.

Trish had stabbed the Sparda into the ground and held her ground against the gust of wind until it had subsided. She pulled her blade out and shot forward at high speeds towards Mundus. The demon king flew out of the way and back into the air, only for the demoness to transform her blade into its scythe-like form and heave it in the direction of her opponent. The Sparda sparked with Trish’s lighting and it shredded straight into Mundus’ chest multiple times before he swatted the weapon away.

“Aim for his wings! They’re the only thing not made of pure stone!” Lady pointed out after helping Bulleta back to her feet.

“Gladly.” The blonde demon huntress said under her breath and aimed the Death Machine upwards at the wings of her enemy. The bullets she fired began tearing at the demon king’s wings and this quickly alerted him to summon meteors from dark purple portals to rain upon the hunters.

Deadpool activated his teleporter and made it out of the way of a meteorite. As the others dodged the attack, he had managed to sneak behind Mundus’ blind spot. He dug in his belt and loaded up a single incendiary grenade in his launcher. “If this guy likes shooting stars so much, maybe he should be one himself!” He said to himself with a chuckle as he raised up his launcher and fired.

The grenade struck Mundus’ back and began to inflame his wings. Its feathers began wilting off and he looked to be struggling keeping himself in flight. “ _You damned human!_ ” He cursed the mercenary and turned around, firing a barrage of fireballs in his direction.

“Oh shitty titty!” The Merc with the Mouth squealed and sprinted as fast as he could to outrun the attack.

Rebellion disappeared from Dante’s back and in his hands the ice-cold tripartite nunchaku known as Cerberus manifested in his hands. “You need to _chill out_ with the fireballs, Mundus!” He slammed the nunchucks down into the ground and summoned a large ice shard that shot all the way up towards Mundus, slicing right through one of his wings and forming ice around it.

The demon king flexed his wing and managed to break apart the ice, he then turned around and slammed down into the ground. He summoned a series of lighting bolts that followed Dante as he attempted to block the attacks with Cerberus. Trish and Lady rushed in, with the latter firing her demonic fueled HK21 machine gun into the eyes of Mundus. The demoness summoned down a glowing gold spell that trapped one of Mundus’ legs down into the ground for a brief moment.

“ _Damned puppet!_ ” Mundus shouted towards Trish, who looked unfazed and continued bombarding him with her electricity strikes.

“I’m no one’s puppet anymore!” She returned and thrusted the Sparda right into the demon’s kings arm. She transformed her blade into its scythe once more and it locked into the stone arm of the devil emperor. With a loud yell she used all of her strength to tear Mundus’ arm right off his body. A glowing lava colored blood began spurting from the wound and the demon king let out a room rumbling roar.

Deadpool spotted Mundus attempting to summon fireballs from the ground once more and he loaded in a ice grenade in his launcher. “I _would_ say an ice joke, but Pretty Boy over there already took it!” He fired the ice grenade down and halted the flaming attack from emerging. “Pretty _cold_ of him, huh?”

“ _Enough of this!_ ” Mundus shouted and fought through Trish’s trap spell and attempted to fly back upwards.

Bulleta spun up the Death Machine and fired directly at one of the more damaged wings of Mundus. “Oi! You’re not going anywhere!” She called as her bullets practically burned off the demon king’s wing.

“If you’re going anywhere, it’s back to Hell where you belong!” Dante spun Cerberus and slammed it down, summoning another ice pillar right in front of Mundus. As expected, the demon king broke through the pillar, only to meet Trish on the other side with the Sparda readied behind her.

Trish slashed the Sparda down directly at Mundus’ face, taking him out airborne and sending him back down. She raised up the demonic blade again and stabbed it right through his chest hole. As the demon king shouted out in anger and pain, she ushered forth her demonic powers and began surging through his stone body with her electricity. She pulled out the Sparda and hopped off, allowing Mundus to violently land back into the ground.

Dante pulled out Yamato with a spin and stabbed it right through Mundus’ third eye. His ice cold blue eyes stared daggers into the demon who had ruined his family’s lives. “That one’s for my family...” He said in a low voice and further drove the katana blade into the demon king’s eye.

Mundus grabbed a hold of the devil hunter with his remaining arm and attempted to crush him in his fingers, only for Bulleta to roll in and fire the Death Machine at the stone wrist. The bullets eventually shattered the demon king’s stone skin enough for Dante to break out himself by blasting Coyote-A from the inside. Several of Mundus’ fingers and parts of his hand blew apart into multiple directions.

The demon king attempted to drag himself away from the hunters and fly off again. Lady stomped her boot down and stabbed Kalina Ann’s bayonet right at the base of the wing, trapping him for a brief moment. “Going somewhere?” She asked and raised up the HK21, firing rapidly at the weak point of Mundus.

Without much regard for his wings anymore, Mundus managed to rip himself away and back onto his feet. Dante threw Rebellion towards Deadpool, who had managed to sneak behind the demon king again. “Wade!”

“Oh I’ve _always_ wanted to use this!” The mercenary said with a cackle as he heaved Rebellion behind him. He swung it and sliced nearly halfway through Mundus’ leg, then Dante rushed in with Yamato and sliced from the other side, effectively completing the cut. The two red devil hunters then stepped aside to allow Lady to fire a rocket from her launcher to knock the demon king off balance.

“ _No, no… NO!_ ” Mundus shouted as he slowly fell backwards, attempting to use what little left of his wings to keep him steady. He looked to them only to see them continue to be ripped apart by bullets from the pesky humans and their weapons.

“Get back on the fucking ground!” Lady shouted with venom towards the demon king, continuing to fire a constant barrage of rockets at him.

Trish summoned another trap spell directly on Mundus’ chest, putting more gravity onto him and forcing him down. She fired a final blast of lightning into his weak point and the demon king was grounded down onto the floor.

The Devil May Cry team walked forward to the downed demon king who was still struggling to get back in the fight.

“ _How could this be…_ ” Mundus questioned, his statue body had been damaged severely. Large cracks and openings revealed the same lava like texture oozing in between the stone cracks. “ _I am Mundus… the Demon King._ "

Deadpool scoffed, "Nah, you're just an asshole!"

“Face it, Mundus, you can’t win against us.” Dante said with Ebony and Ivory aimed at him. “Do whatever you want, fight however you want, it won’t change the fact that this _will_ end with us taking you down no matter what.” He looked to his left and right, where his friends stood by his side standing proudly as well. “Together, nothing will ever stop us.”

Mundus let out a deep chuckle, more pieces of his stone face slowly continued to welt off. “ _Then... if I am to die here._ ” His eyes shined bright red as he used his single hand to grip his chest hole. “ _THEN I WILL TAKE YOU ALL WITH ME!_ ” He ripped out the glowing energy from his chest and a purple explosion engulfed his entire body. The explosion didn’t reach the Devil May Cry team, it instead formed up into a large black hole that began pulling everything inside it.

“Shit!” Dante cursed aloud and holstered his handguns behind him. “We gotta get out of here!” He called out as loud as possible, only for all of them to begin slipping on their feet.

Bulleta slung the Death Machine behind her and she made a grab for the edge of a placed statue as the force of the black hole fought hard to pull her in. “Everyone grab onto something!” She shouted to the others. Her oceanic eyes looked down on the statue’s foundation and noticed it had began cracking.

Dante managed to stab Rebellion into the ground and he held onto its grip with both hands. He spotted Trish and Lady rolling in his direction and he held out his hand. “GRAB ON!”

Lady grabbed onto her friend’s hand, while using her other arm to hold onto Trish in a tight hug. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! It can’t end like this! We were so fucking close!” She said, sounding completely hopeless now.

Trish held onto her girlfriend’s chest for dear life, her eyes had been glued wide opened now but she refused to look back at the eternal darkness that was calling to all of them.

Having stabbed both of his katanas into the ground, Deadpool struggled keeping himself from being flung into the black hole. He knew had to think of something to get them out of this one. There was always a way wasn’t there? He looked down at his teleporter belt and hung his arm around one of his katana’s grip in order to use one hand to fiddle with the device. “Come on, work damn it!” He shouted as he began pounding it with his fist in hopes it’d get it to work.

Bulleta felt her grip was loosening up and there was no sign of the black hole ever ending. Her eyes ran over to her friends, they all were struggling hard as well. She knew she couldn’t give up and she strained her muscles hard to hold onto the statue base. She looked back forwards and saw a large chunk of marble floor heading her way. “TRISH!”

Trish looked to the side and saw Bulleta release her grip from the statue base, barely managing to escape the chunk of debris that could have knocked her out cold or even worse. She saw the devil huntress shoot out her hand and the demoness extended her’s as well. Their fingers brushed one another and Trish’s heart instantly broke in hundreds of pieces once her gaze locked with the look on Bulleta’s eyes when she realized they had missed each other.

“KATRINA!” Trish screamed in horror as Bulleta was dragged into the black hole attempting to grab onto anything she could. Dante, Deadpool and Lady looked back to see their younger friend practically claw at the floor now as she yelled back.

“COME ON, COME ON!” Deadpool practically screamed as he tried one last time to get his teleporter to work. His eyes were dashing from the device to his friend quickly falling into the darkness.

Bulleta felt the world stop instantly when she felt the end of her boots touch the black hole. It was a disturbing feeling that she couldn’t even describe in her mind. She refused to look behind her as she stared back at the eyes of her friends. “Patty-” Her words were cut short when the darkness consumed her. She was gone.

“NO!” Lady shrieked from the top of her lungs. They all practically saw their friend, someone who had shared blood, sweat and tears with, practically disappear right before their eyes.

“No, God, please, this can’t be happening!” Deadpool sobbed as his fingers wrapped around his katana’s grips again. “This can’t--” He hadn’t notice his blades were cracking until it was too late. The katanas snapped and he was sent in free fall towards the darkness, holding the shattered remains of his blades in his hands in complete shock. “--be happening--”

Dante saw his best friend be consumed by the void in the blink of an eye. “WAAADE!”

Lady cursed repeatedly under her breath as tears began forming at the edges of her eyes. She didn’t want it to end this way. She pleaded with whomever was listening to save them while they were still here. She turned her head quickly when she felt Trish suddenly slip abruptly in her arm.

“Mary, please, please, _please_ don’t let go.” Trish begged as her arms attempted to wrap around her girlfriend’s waist as tight as she could. “Please, Mary, I-I don’t want to--”

Lady strained herself trying to pull Trish back up, but the darkness was far too strong. She couldn’t give in now. “I won’t let go Trish, I promised! I _won’t_ let you go!” She attempted to assure her girlfriend, trying her best to ignore each second passing along with the loss of grip she had on her. “I will never let go, I won’t _ever_ leave you!”

The demoness sobbed into the devil huntress’ stomach, fingers locking around her ammo belt now. The pull was too strong, even for her. She felt her hands having reached its limit and slowly she looked back up to see her girlfriend’s face. “Mary--” Her grip fell apart and she was sucked backwards into the void.

Dante panicked upon seeing Trish fall back into the void, it hadn’t helped that Lady immediately loosened her hold on his hand as well. “Lady, don’t!” Everything felt like it had went silent as he watched Lady released herself from his hand and fall after Trish. He extended out his hand in a worthless effort to catch them as he watched the two hold onto each other, staring into one another’s eyes, before being taken by the darkness. He was alone now.

He felt it hit him instantly and he wrapped his two hands around Rebellion again. He wished someone had came in to help them, someone who was stronger. Regret consumed the half demon like a virus, he wished he was strong enough to help his team, his friends, and get them out of this. But they were all gone now. His teeth grit and he closed his eyes, attempting to distract himself from the fact his fingers were slipping as well. “I can’t die here.” He said to himself, continuing to refuse over and over. “I can’t die here. I _can’t_ die here. I can--”

Hands slipped off the demonic broadsword’s hilt and the devil hunter’s eyes were for a second filled with shock. He watched as he fell farther and farther from Rebellion, the blade his father had gifted him as a child. The shock in his eyes slowly were replaced by exhausted acceptance. His body stopped struggling and he felt weightless as the darkness consumed him. The black hole disappeared shortly after, leaving not a single trace of the demon hunters’ presence other than the lone Rebellion and two broken katana blades.

\---

_“Sleeping again, Dante?” Katrina asked the half demon who was lazing about on his bed. She had allowed herself in after a few knocks since his door was usually always wide open._

_He shrugged his shoulders and smirked, “Eh, you know me.”_

_The devil huntress rolled her oceanic eyes but grinned as well. “C’mon, Wade won’t stop pestering me about getting you outta bed so you can try his new pot roast.”_

_“Fine, fine, fine.” Dante gave in and slowly raised himself up from the bed. Only to drop back down again and let out a sigh of relief. “Man, this bed’s comfortable.”_

_“If you don’t get up in 2 seconds, I’m dragging you outta there.”_

_The devil hunter pulled himself back up almost instantly. “The bed can wait.”_

_Dante and Katrina walked down the stairs together until they had reached the main floor of the office. The half demon stopped and leaned himself up against the wall briefly as his younger friend proceeded on to get the table ready._

_He looked around, Ariel and Patty were setting things on the table along with Katrina. He smiled back at the angel once they made eye contact. As she returned to her things, he looked over to the couches to see Lady and Trish snuggled up with each other, watching some sort of cheesy romance movie on the TV. A chuckle escaped from his lips, he had no opinion on them before but since Patty had checked out a romantic book for him all that time ago he had quite an interest in them now. After all, he was the one that picked out this specific movie for the couple. It still amused him that he unknowingly set them up together and now they were finally dating._

_“Yo, Fabio!” He heard his best friend, Wade, call him into the kitchen. He smirked and nodded in response, he always was amused by the endless supply of nicknames he had for everyone._

_Dante walked up to Wade and clapped his hand on his shoulder. He looked at the apron his friend wore that read ‘KISS THE MERC’, a gift from the devil hunter himself. “What’s up, man?”_

_“This never gets old, doesn’t it?” The brunet asked with his usual cheery smile, looking around the office. Chuck and Lilith were talking with Lady and Trish, the succubus attempting to hide her wide smile at simply seeing the couple (she apparently thought they were the cutest couple she had ever seen.) Wanda used her magic to set utensils and drinks on the table, while her twin brother Pietro was impatiently looking at the main dish on the table with anticipation. He had tried to sneak a bite until Patty smacked his hand and began berating him like a mother, strangely._

_Dante nodded and took a sip from the beer his friend had given to him. “Never does.” He agreed, leaning back on the counter._

_“You probably already know this but…” Wade trailed off, half focused on stirring the sauce in the pot. “I never really had much friends before I met you and well…” He began snickering, unable to believe what he was hearing from his own mouth. “I’m frickin’ glad I met you. You, Trish, Lady, Kat, Patty, and all you crazy stupid fine people.”_

_Dante grinned at his best friend and set his beer down. “Glad I met you too, Wade. Glad I met all of them as well.” He said turning his attention to all of his friends that had begun seating themselves around the table. He honestly was glad he met these people, these friends of his that were practically his family now. That's something they all seemed to share, people without families, having found families with each other. He hoped they all would always remain together. He hoped it would never end._

**...**


	34. Ancient Evil Awakens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the height of the Great War, an Ancient Evil is discovered and released in the heart of Germany. Nightmarish creatures and the reanimated corpses of fallen warriors begin to fall over the battlefields and the only ones standing in Hell's way are a demon, a sailor, a pilot, and a scientist.

In the year 1918, a large but empty mansion was being pelted with rainfall during a cold winter night. A man sat in a cushioned chair in front of a crackling fireplace. As he reached to take a sip from his wine glass, he felt a sudden surge of energy pass through him. He nearly shattered the glass but had caught it with quick reflexes before it struck the wooden floorboards beneath him. The energy he was sensing was very powerful… and familiar.

_So he returns._

The man cracked a mild grin and shook his head with slight disappointment. He stood up and set his wineglass down on a coffee table, where two beautifully designed twin revolvers lay neatly. The names _Musta_ and _Valko_ are inscribed into each weapon, one being colored black and one being colored white. As he went over to his fireplace he grabbed the menacing broadsword hanging from over it in both hands.

He pulled on a dark purple leather peacoat over his grey colored dress uniform and pushed back his silver white hair. He holstered Musta and Valko in a set of thigh holsters, then readied his blade, the Force Edge, and channeled his powers into it. A simple slash into the air created a glowing purple portal. Before he stepped into the portal, his ice blue eyes stared into it to determine where the power surge was located.

Western Germany, at the height of the Great War. Though despite it being a war currently going on (something he didn’t have any particular interest in, humans were always a bit strange when it came to conflicts) there was a strange lack of actual fighting as he examined the portal before him. He returned the Force Edge behind him and stepped through.

The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda returns into the fields of war.

\---

In the clouded skies of the battlefield, a single biplane sped through the opposite directions of the armies below that were moving. A German aviator sat in the seat of the plane as he piloted the aircraft through the tough weather. His dark blue eyes looked over the sepia colored photograph that was tucked in one of the dials on his plane. It was a photo of a Japanese woman with short jet black hair and pale skin. She was dressed in a scientist’s uniform and the name _‘Dr. Mariko Arisaka’_ written on it in English.

That was the pilot’s main mission given to him by his superiors, but he had other things in mind as well. First, the simple news of there being a secret German super weapons test facility was enough to baffle him. What he was told after that though, he nearly laughed at how preposterous it sounded.

_"Hell has taken over the facility."_

Though, he was shown many photographs that proved him wrong. Creatures of unidentifiable origin were ripping apart German soldiers and scientists. Everything shown to him was absolutely gruesome but in reality it was not something new to him. Not because he was in the military, but instead he had heard the numerous tales his father told him about his days as a ‘devil hunter.’

As a boy he passed the tales off as simple bedtime stories to keep him in school and well behaved. He still believed they are children’s stories to this day, but the photos unsettled him. He took it upon himself to personally fly to the facility to investigate what had happened and hopefully rescue as many personnel as he can. His initial orders were to rescue the Japanese scientist known as Dr. Mariko, his superiors simply wanted the woman so that she could complete super weapons to help them win the war. The pilot didn’t want this to happen, he only wanted to the war to end. He was indeed going to keep his word on rescuing her, along with any other survivors, but further ushering this fruitless war was something that he refused to do.

Having absolutely no contact with anyone, he had decided earlier that he’d make a recording of how this mission will turn out. He used one hand to unfold a piece of paper that was pocketed in his aviator jacket and looked at it for a brief moment. It only had one short intro written in his native language, but he intended to continue it once he had landed later on.

_My name is Major Irvin Krieger of the Imperial German Air Service…_

\---

A sailor dressed in brown and black military uniform was hiding behind a stack of munitions crates, avoiding being caught from the various German soldiers patrolling the area. “Knew I should’ve stolen one of their uniforms.” They muttered to themselves in a slightly muffled voice, after all a grey gasmask covered their face.

Their brown eyes caught sight of a loading truck that parked right across from their hiding spot. The driver stepped out of the vehicle and wander off with another few soldiers for a smoke break. Once the coast was clear, the sailor dashed their way to the truck and hopped aboard into the driver’s seat.

“Well that was easy.” They chuckled to themselves and pulled out a map from their pockets. “Now where to go from here…” The map they held was a copy of the current area of Western Germany, but written in identifiable English along with directions to something circled in bright red.

The mission they had received was to find a secret German weapons facility and destroy it at all costs before they could invent something that could tremendously devastate the Allied Powers. The sailor was immediately the first to step up to the task, despite being part of the Royal Canadian Navy. Sure, they had to enter a couple heated arguments to get the mission and atleast two fist fights, but they eventually allowed them permission as no one else was stepping up to the task.

The sailor smirked to themselves and put down the map, only to see a group of German soldiers having surrounded the truck. The driver of the vehicle was staring confusedly at the sailor inside and he suddenly ordered to fire. “Oh come on!” They complained and immediately floored the gas pedal.

The truck sped right through barrier plans and onto the dirt road, with bullets whizzing past and even striking the back of the vehicle.

“ _Hold your fire! Hold your fire!_ ” One of the German officers yelled once they noticed where the truck was heading.

A young soldier looked at their superior with confusion. “ _Where are they going?_ ”

“ _The fool… they are heading into Hell itself._ ”

The sailor was laughing to themself as they glanced at the rear view mirror to see that the soldiers chasing them had already gave up. With that, they removed their gasmask and tossed it out the window, revealing themselves to be a gritty looking woman with short cut light brown hair. “And the wonderful Wendy Wilson yet again makes another daring escape with bare minimum of injuries and property damage. Can’t say the same for those other chumps though.” She said with a grin and continued speeding down the road, heading towards the weapons facility.

\---

Major Krieger looked down at the battlefield below him. It was strangely quiet and empty, slightly unsettling him a bit. He eased his thoughts by telling himself that there is much more landing space for him now. The facility was seen and he was nearing it, attempting to spot any survivors from the air but to no avail. The facility itself was made up of an excavation site, multiple outposts and factories. He wondered briefly what the excavation site was for, until something made his plane shake violently.

One of his wings had been damaged, not shot by an anti-air weapon but from the looks of it something burned it. He looked forward to see gargoyle-like creatures roaring at him and blasting fireballs from their jaws. “Vhat in _Gott’s_ name!?” He exclaimed aloud and attempted to dodge the attacks, only for another to strike his wing. He began to lose control of his aircraft and wooden frame of it were quickly melting away at the flames.

The creatures managed to board his biplane and began tearing at its wings. Krieger released his control on the plane and hastily grabbed the picture of Dr. Mariko, stuffing it in his pocket. Before the monsters could make a grab for him, the pilot jumped off and plummeted towards the grounds below. As he neared the battlefield below he pulled a wire from the bag he wore and a parachute ejected from behind, slowing down his fall and allowing him safe landing.

He tore off the pack and scanned around at the sky to find his plane. Eventually he spotted it, the same creatures continuing to tear at it until it blew apart in a fiery blast. He could only stare in shock at what he had saw, still not quite believing anything. Something that brought him out of thought was a single surviving gargoyle he had noticed. It was flying directly at him at dangerous speeds.

The pilot scrambled inside his bag for something to defend himself with. He pulled out the MP 18, the world’s first submachine gun. It was a prototype at best and he prayed that it would work against these beasts. He aimed the weapon and fired at the creature closest to him, knocking it out of the sky completely. The beast crash landed before his feet and the aviator emptied out the magazine of the weapon into the chest of the creature until it had finally stopped moving.

Krieger could only stare in shock at the monster before him. He knew everything his father had told him before was no longer fairy tales, they were real. The creature… no, the _demon_ , before him was enough proof. He watched as the devil slowly melt away in a light blue fire and eventually into ashes.

There was a strange ripple in the clouded sky and he looked upwards. Red colored lighting strikes began cracking down straight into the center of the excavation site. When this had happened, Krieger noticed the mudded floors around him began shifting around. He reloaded the MP 18 and looked all around him, his mouth slightly agape at what he witnessed happening. Rotting corpses dressed in the uniforms of his fellow German soldiers rose from the muddy grounds, their eyes glowing red as they roared at the lone aviator.

\---

“Well… this is new.” Captain Wilson said to herself when she was faced with the walking corpses of the enemy combatants. She had never seen anything like this and her simple response was to shrug and bring out her weapon. She raised up her M97 Trench Shotgun and fired, blasting several of the undead away. “Want a piece of me, eh? Bring it then!” She challenged and continuing firing, then jumped down into a muddy trench to meet another set of the undead.

One of the walking corpses rushed right towards her and she retaliated by swinging the butt of her shotgun across its head. She kicked the corpse down further and fired another shot straight to its head, blowing it completely apart. Another was at her side and she shoved the barrel of the shotgun to its mouth and fired again. She pumped the weapon and brandished an entrenching tool from her belt, using it to crack open another one of the undead’s skulls.

Wilson slung her shotgun on her hip and pulled out the shovel from the zombie’s head, then proceeded to walk forward in a stride to face another pair of the undead. She felt a presence behind her and she swung her shovel behind her in an instant, striking not one of the walking corpses but instead a pink skinned horned devil. The strike knocked many teeth out of the demon’s jaw and this had only angered it even more. It attempted to pounce the sailor only for her to drop down to the floor and use her legs to push the demon over her, sending it crashing into the undead.

“I see it’s going to be one of _those_ days...” She said to herself as the demon rose back up, crushing the undead underneath it with its fists. She loaded up shells in her shotgun and when the devil was close enough, she blasted straight through its chest.

As the horned demon fell towards the side and began melting in a pile of ash, Wilson pumped her shotgun and continued forth through a steel door inside the trenches.

\---

Ghoul demons continuously materialized in mid air, only for a barrage of bullets to rip them apart. Sparda spun Musta and Valko and blew away the smoke from both of its barrels. The energy emanating from this area was all too familiar and he was determined to put an absolute stop to another demonic invasion. He had already sealed off the demon world from the human world, but here he was once more facing off against his own kind. The dark knight knew he had to get to the absolute bottom of this mystery.

He spotted large multi-armed demons burst through the metallic doors of the trenches and tackled any other lesser demon or zombie out of their way. Sparda smirked and fired his twin revolvers straight into their heads. One was taken out immediately but the other one managed to dodge them. The devil returned fire by using its multiple arms to grab the undead around it and chuck it towards the dark knight.

Sparda pulled out the Force Edge after holstering his revolvers and sped forward. He sliced right through multiple undead and eventually reached the demon. He slashed his broadsword straight across the demon’s chest, then spun around and traded in his weapons once more. Revolver shots riddled the devil’s face and it fell backwards in a limp corpse.

The dark knight scanned the area and persisted onwards, feeling the source of the power get closer and closer. The lighting strike from earlier that summoned the undead and the demons was a curiosity to him, whatever was buried inside the excavation site had to be his next destination.

\---

Krieger was sprinting through the muddy grounds, having outran most of the undead behind him. The demons were another problem, he was forced to fight them and it had nearly cost him his life each time. He knew he had no time to waste now as he slid on the ground and back into a trench. He used this short lived moment to reload his weapon and peak above the trench for second. Seeing the coast was momentarily clear, he dug into his jacket and pulled out a map detailing the layout of the facility. He was close to where Dr. Mariko’s position was and he returned the map into his pocket.

Regaining his bearings, the aviator pushed through the trenches and spotted the entrance to the run down building. More of the undead practically tore themselves out of the mud and one had managed to grab a hold of Krieger’s leg. “Off _mein_ boots, _schweinehund_!” He shouted and fired his submachine gun at the arm of the zombie, tearing it off.

The pilot kicked his leg around until the arm had released its grip and he proceeded forward, leaving behind the rather slow undead as he closed the metallic door behind him. He only heard the groans of the undead outside along with the roars and snarls of the more dangerous demons amongst them all. As he walked cautiously through the stone interior with his MP 18 raised, he heard a scream that belonged to a woman. He rushed now, passing by multiple bodies of soldiers and scientists and pools of blood until he had reached the source of the screaming.

He pulled open the metal door and held his weapon up to see Dr. Mariko, the Japanese scientist he was tasked with finding first, backed up against the wall with numerous demons around her. He was going to open fire but someone else beat him to it. A shotgun blast knocked most of the demons away from the scientist and Krieger saw what appeared to be an Allied Powers soldier firing at the monsters.

Krieger finished off whatever demon the Allied soldier hadn’t taken out and once the devils were cleared out, he was surprised to see the same soldier he had just assisted turning their weapon at him. In turn, he raised his weapon back at them with a strained look upon his face. “Lay down your veapon.” He ordered in English, attempting to hold himself up calmly.

“How about you lay down yours, Kraut?” The Allied soldier immediately barked back at him. He noted they weren’t an American or an Englishman, but a Canadian soldier as he spotted the flag patch on their uniform’s sleeve.

“Zhere is no need for zis.” Krieger continued, trying to convince the Canadian soldier he meant no arm. “Zhere are much larger things going on right now, bigger zhan you und me.”

“Yeah, I noticed!” They responded sarcastically. “Bringing back your fallen soldiers and even summoning whatever the hell those monsters are out there. Is that you Krauts’ solution to this war!?”

“I am sure zhere is a reasonable explaination...” The aviator reasoned, glancing over to the Japanese scientist darting her eyes back and forth at the two of them in fear. “But ve do not have time to argue, so please--”

They heard two guns clicking, catching both of their attention to a white haired man who was aiming twin revolvers at both of them. Neither of them could tell which side of the Great War he was on, despite his military-like dress uniform underneath the rather obnoxious purple peacoat.

“And who the hell are you supposed to be, fancy pants?” Wilson questioned Sparda as she turned her shotgun to him.

The dark knight didn’t answer the sailor’s question, only examining the people in the room. He kept his aim on the two steady and his eyes were mostly focused now on the Japanese woman against the wall. She was covered in blood, but it was obviously not her own.

Wilson grinded her teeth and continued demanding answers. “If you’re a part of this shit show too like this _sauerkraut_ over here, then you better start talking or I’m blasting that pretty face of yours off!”

“I am in no way responsible for zis situation!” Krieger retorted, nearly shocked at getting such an accusation. “I came here to contain it und rescue any survivors I can find.”

Wilson scoffed and shook her head. “Lotta good that search and rescue of your’s did, eh? I didn’t find a single survivor in this hell hole other than you bastards.”

“Typical of humans.” Sparda spoke coldly, catching the immediate attention of the two other soldiers with his use of ‘humans.’ “Quick to argue and accuse one another whenever a problem arises.”

“‘Humans?’” Krieger echoed, his eyes going over to the dark knight slowly. “Vhat do you mean by zat...?” He asked in a cautious voice as his weapon turned from Wilson to the white haired man.

Wilson felt the tension pass through and her aim on Sparda was held even tighter. “If I had to guess right… this smug son of a bitch is one of those _things_ out there.”

“And so easy to unite as well.” Sparda said to the two with a smirk. He shrugged his shoulders and holstered his twin revolvers. “See how easy that was?” He asked them, his dark and challenging demeanor had been suddenly replaced with a rather friendly one instead.

“Wait what.” The sailor deadpanned, completely thrown off now. “Are you one of those creatures or not?!”

“To answer your question, yes.” Sparda answered as he walked forward, the two humans still training their weapons on him. “Am I on their side? That would be a definite no. The only side I am on is my own and the single goal I have is to stop this demonic intervention from getting even worse.”

“So… ve all have ze same goal?” Krieger asked, slowly lowering his submachine gun.

The dark knight grinned at the aviator and nodded. “Indeed. Now, that is finally settled. Let us not waste anymore time and get to the bottom of this situation, shall we?” He asked with his hands behind his back, patiently awaiting their responses.

Wilson clicked her tongue and lowered her shotgun. “Fine. We’ll work together. But only for now.” She said with her eyes narrowed at both of the men before her. “What do we with the doc over here then?” She asked, nodding towards the scientist.

“Dr. Mariko vorked at zis facility, so she is bound to be able to answer our questions.” Krieger spoke and slowly approached the Japanese woman. “Greetings, _fraulein_. Do not vorry, ve are not here to hurt you.”

The scientist only darted her eyes back and forth from the three standing in her room. “I…” She managed to squeak out. “I tried to stop them.” She finally said, speaking in a notable Japanese accent.

“Them?” Wilson repeated with her head tilted.

“The other scientists and officials. When they were digging into the excavation site something… strange happened to them.” Mariko began explaining, staring at her blood soaked hands. “They returned as normal, or so it had seemed. I began to notice everyone who had took part of the expedition in the dig site had started to do very strange things. It got worse over the the days the went by, at first it was harmless mumbling and rambling of some sort of higher power… but eventually things got much more frightening.”

She slowly picked herself back on her feet and made a short walk to her desk. Her hands fumbled for a key in her pocket and she opened up a locked cabinet. “I came across _these_  in the halls.” She opened up a folder full of photographs for the three who had came up to her desk to take a look at what she had to offer.

The photographs were of the various hallways in the facility with disturbing imagery. Blood drawn pentagrams sprawled on the walls with black candles, words written in some sort of unrecognizable font that seemed to stretch across the floors. There were photos of men being a part of some blood sacrifice in a demonic ritual.

“I attempted to study the words that were written down but I just cannot find an accurate translation.” Mariko mumbled as she squinted at one of the photos.

“It says _‘Hail to the King’_ over and over.” Sparda stated with one simple glance at the photographs, surprising the other three. “Along with _‘He Shall Show us the Way’_ and many other shameless ramblings.” He had a grin, but it was one of disgust rather than amusement.

The doctor pulled another drawer open and retrieved a pair of cracked eyeglasses that she placed over her eyes. “I see… but who is this ‘King’ they all are worshipping?”

“Mundus.” Sparda answered her questions again, his grin had faded away instantly. “The Demon King… I previously sealed him and his armies away back into the demon world before but I do not know how he was able to return.”

“How the hell do you know that?” Wilson asked.

“The aura he possesses has immense reach, I felt it ways away from this battlefield.” The dark knight explained, “Though this time, his aura is weakened, that much I can tell. So while he is weakened, we must work quickly to find him and put an end to his tyranny once and for all.”

“Do you expect us to be able to seal ze demon king back into Hell?” Krieger questioned with a bit of worry.

“I sealed him once and it clearly has failed.” Sparda said in a quieter voice. “It appears now we must kill him once and for all.” He looked up at the three humans with his silver brows furrowed. “I came upon this battlefield to end Mundus myself, but if you three are willing to join me, feel free to do. If you choose to escape these lands while you still can, I will not stop you.” And with that, he began walking off back the direction he came from.

“W-Wait, you don’t know your way around here like I do.” Mariko spoke up, catching the dark knight’s attention. “Let me help! I want to stop this Mundus as much as any of you do!”

“Yeah!” Wilson agreed instantly, slightly surprising the scientist due to her loud tone. “I for one am not just gonna let this bastard and his army run rampant all over Germany. Sure the Krauts are a buncha assholes, but they sure as hell don’t deserve this!”

Krieger nodded his head. “ _Ja_ , none of ze vorld deserves zis. Our countries may be at var but I shall be damned if I do not fight ze good fight against ze hordes of Hell itself to prevent zhem from overtaking ze entire vorld!”

Sparda turned his body fully at the three, a wider smile having been struck across his face at their determination and will to stop Mundus. “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” He asked as he pulled out his twin revolvers.

The sound of the undead echoed all around them and they all begun preparations to fight. Mariko had thrown off her bloodied lab coat and pulled the sleeves of her dress shirt up. She dusted off her pants and tightened her mud stained boots. While she was doing this, Wilson pulled out her M1911 handgun and lent it towards the scientist, who stared at the weapon with wide eyes.

“You know how to shoot a gun?” Wilson asked with a friendly smile.

“Y-Yes.” The scientist nodded and took the pistol in her hands, testing how it weighed in her hands and examining it up and down. “I took a couple live fire exercises, so I should be fine.”

“That is good to hear, eh?” The sailor beamed and ruffled the woman’s raven black hair a bit. “Then lead the way, doc!”

A faint blush fell over Mariko’s pale skin and she turned her head away so that the other woman couldn’t have seen it. “We must head to the source of it all, the excavation site. But first... I believe there is somewhere we should stop by that would greatly increase our chances of survival.”

“Und vhere vould zat be, doktor?” Krieger asked curiously.

“The weapons testing room.” Mariko answered with her brows raised up and lips formed into a smile. “I’ll explain once we get there.” She pulled open the metallic door and the four of them were immediately out in a mad sprint.

The shambling corpses above the trenches attempted to make a grab for the four, only for their heads and arms to be shot off. The sound of gunshots quickly alerted the more dangerous opponents as demons materialized from the air itself and attacked the team.

Wilson stepped in front of Mariko and fired her shotgun straight into the throat of a horned devil, spewing chunks and its lower jaw in a burst. The scientist continued running and only fired her weapon when it was absolutely necessary. Sparda slashed Force Edge right through a pair of cloak-wearing ghoul demons before they could attack with their scythes.

“To think I believed ze tales _mein vater_  had told me about demons vas simply fiction.” Krieger grumbled to himself as he landed a well placed headshot on a couple of the undead.

“And now you can do the same for your kids when we get out of this one, eh?” Wilson said, attempting to comfort him. The aviator only responded in a scoff of disbelief, though it was followed by a small smile.

“There!” Mariko pointed out another metallic door with a plate over it reading _‘Weapons Testing.’_ Sparda holstered his revolvers and made a dash for the door, tackling many walking corpses out of the way.

The dark knight gripped his fingers on the handle and opened up the door, allowing steam to shoot out from its hinges. After his three allies made it through he slid the door back shut and allowed the demons outside to bang at it in anger. He caught up to them all overlooking a wide array of unrecognizable weaponry.

“If there was one thing this demon emperor had gifted that could benefit us, it’s these weapons.” Mariko said. “He has infused some sort of demonic energy into most of these weapons, but that is not the only thing. It appears they are actually weapons of the far future.”

“Ze future?” Krieger couldn’t believe his ears now. This day was simply a rollercoaster of twists and turns. He cocked his head at the strange weapons made of shining or darkened metals, not a single sign of wood was implemented in them.

“Oh yeah, here we go!” Wilson chuckled as she lifted a customized German MG 08/15. “Big gun for a big woman, eh?” She said with a smirk and aimed down the sites of the machine gun. “I’ll tell you something Kraut, your guys knew how to make some fine weapons!”

“ _Danke..._?” The aviator thanked unsurely as he picked up an MP-40 submachine gun, a small note being attached to it was written in German. It had said it was used in the second World War and just the thought of another Great War twisted his face into distain. Instead he opted for a more futuristic rifle made of steel, named the FN FAL, and began studying how it worked.

“Now that we are armed properly, the path to the excavation site is just right across these doors.” Mariko said, having replaced the emptied pistol Wilson gifted her with a Japanese Type 100 submachine gun.

As they all made their way out of the weapons room, Sparda had caught himself deep in thought. The weapons on the table were very much obviously out of their proper times, but how could have Mundus even done this? _It would have taken thousands upon thousands of years to learn magic that manipulates time itself…_ He thought to himself. _Unless…_ His ice blue eyes widened a bit but he kept the thought to himself and continued pressing forward with his allies.

Wilson aimed her machine gun and ripped right through a horde of the undead that had been blocking their way in the trenches. “Might need to take a detour!” She called to her allies.

Sparda climbed out of the trench and sliced apart the barbed wires with Force Edge. He helped Mariko and Krieger up, then used Musta and Valko to cover Wilson while she made it up the trench as well. The four of them ran through the muddy grounds that were littered with growing pools of water as the weather began to rain over the grounds.

They were nearing excavation site that was surrounded by destroyed tanks and dead bodies of soldiers and demons. Mariko aimed her submachine gun and cleared a short path on a wooden catwalk that led straight into the dig site’s main hole. As she made her way to it, two cerberus demons appeared from the shadows and attempted to pounce her. Wilson and Sparda quickly shot the hell dogs out of mid air, saving the scientist who looked as if her heart had jumped out of her chest.

Wilson grabbed Mariko’s hand and ushered her forward, while Sparda and Krieger led the way down the spiraling wooden catwalks. As they went in deeper, they discovered there were ancient stone walls that had been buried under the mud. The wooden pathway had been replaced by dirtied stone steps and it evolved into a descending hallway that were lined with torches along the way down.

“You okay?” Wilson asked the scientist with concern.

Mariko bit her bottom lip and quickly nodded. “Y-Yes. I just… never went down here. And I fear for our lives that we might not resurface.”

The sailor rubbed the back of her neck, glancing briefly at the two men ahead of them that were speaking of something trivial. She looked back at Mariko and she had never seen a woman as beautiful as her, that fact alone had her nearly speechless each time they had interacted. “Hey, uh, don’t worry your little head about a single thing! I know we’re dealing with a lot but sometimes we just have to push through, eh? I mean we _do_ have the fate of the _entire world_ on our shoulders sooo we probably might not make it ou--” She stopped immediately when she noticed the woman’s nearly calm look instantly returned to one riddled with fear.

“Smooth, Wilson.” Sparda playfully mocked, turning his head back at the two women for a moment.

“Shut your pretty face!” Wilson barked with an over exaggerated frown.

Krieger released a rather nostalgic sounding sigh. As strange as it was to admit it, he was enjoying these tiny snippets of downtime with these people he had just met. It almost made him forget they were on the way to their possible deaths.

Sparda halted them all with a raise of his fist and he pulled out one of his revolvers from its holster. “We’re here.” He told them and they continued cautiously off the final steps and into a widened circular dungeon filled with unrecognizable glowing writings and images.

There was a center hole in the middle of the room, it looked completely out of place and impossible. As if something had simply tore a small hole in the fabric of reality itself, revealing only pure darkness. Around the hole was strangely neatly organized sacrificed corpses that circled all around it.

“Yikes.” Wilson whispered to herself. She looked back at Mariko who looked frozen in place. She held out her hand to the scientist, who slowly took it in her own. The two walked forward together, with Krieger and Sparda scanning the entire room for any demons.

“Zis is unholy…” The aviator muttered in disbelief, staring only at shock at this sacrificial room.

“Seen worse.” Sparda simply brushed it off as he was slowly stepping over the bodies and towards the dark centered void. He holstered his revolvers and stared into the darkness with a stone faced look. The power surge he had felt earlier was practically screaming at him now, he had found the true source of this demonic outbreak. Deep inside the darkness, there he lay, the Demon King he had defied all those years ago and sealed back. His fists balled up and he took a few paces back, readying himself to jump in.

“Vait, vhat do you think you are doing?!” Krieger questioned immediately.

“Hey, hey, if you’re going in that--!” Wilson’s words fell upon deaf ears and they all watched the dark knight jump into the darkness and disappear. “Damn it all, doesn’t anyone ever listen to me?!”

The German aviator slung the FN FAL rifle on his hip and shook his head in disappointment, but his legs were readying themselves. “I cannot believe I am about to do zis…” He took in a deep breath and sprinted towards the void, jumping in himself right after Sparda.

“Oh sure! Let’s _all_ just jump into this weird dark thing we know absolutely nothing about!” The sailor said sarcastically as she threw her arms up in disbelief. She placed the MG 08/15 behind her back and cracked her neck.

“Unfortunately we cannot just leave those two behind...” Mariko said, sounding a bit defeated. “Ready?”

Wilson let out an exaggerated breath and nodded. “Ready."

The two women both broke into a sprint together and jumped forward into the void.

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: the legendary dark knight sparda, the imperial german aviator irvin krieger, the royal canadian sailor wendy wilson, and the japanese special weapons scientist dr. mariko arisaka. 
> 
> those names must sound familiar.


	35. The Living Are Not Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle against the reawakened Ancient Evil begins.

In an endless abyss of darkness that seemed to defy all logic, old enemies stare down into each other’s eyes full of hatred.

“ _Sparda…_ ” Mundus growled, his stone face was in shambles and nearly revealed his true disgusting form beneath it.

Sparda noted the other demon’s damaged appearance. “You look like you have been taking care of yourself, Mundus.” He said sarcastically, a grin flashing on his face for a moment until it faded away again. “How did you escape the demon realm?”

“ _Same way as I always have._ ” The demon emperor answered smugly. “ _Brought forth by humans and devils who wish to pay me tribute._ ”

“This shall be the last time you ever earn tribute, Mundus.” Sparda said as he gripped his hand on the hilt of Force Edge.

The devil king coughed out a laugh at his enemy’s words. “‘ _Time…’ Truly that word has not a meaning to one who is able to control it by will alone now._ ”

Sparda’s ice blue eyes narrowed hard and his lips tightened into a frown. “So it appears my assumptions were correct.” He said to himself, having concluded before that this Mundus is not the one he had sealed recently, but one from the far future that had somehow returned.

“ _And for once you are correct._ ” Mundus stated. “ _But it shall be your last time being so. I refused to die by the hand of your son and I refuse now to die by your hand._ ”

“My _son_ …?” The dark knight whispered in slight surprise.

“ _And I shall be damned if I allow myself to be defeated once more by these tiny insects!_ ” Mundus shouted, his three eyes shining red at his enemy’s teammates.

“Someone’s mad, eh?” Captain Wilson said with her brows arched in surprise.

Major Krieger breathed in and readied himself. “Now is not ze time for jokes, Wilson…”

Dr. Mariko held her weapon straight at the demon king and bit down on her bottom lip. “If this shall be our last battle then let us go down with our weapons raised in defiance…”

“Now that’s what I’m into!” Wilson cheered the scientist and lifted up her machine gun, challenging the demon king before them. “Bring it on!”

“ _Humans shall always be so foolish._ ” Mundus said as he lifted himself up with his remaining arm. More of his stone skin crumbled away and his burnt wings flapped forward to create a gust of wind against his opponents.

As the other three held their ground against the wind, Sparda armed himself with Force Edge and let out a wild battle cry as he fought through the wind and rushed forward. He sliced right through the glowing red spikes the demon king shot at him and ushered on. He shot himself as high as he could and swung his broadsword against Mundus multiple times.

The devil emperor attempted to block the sword attacks with his single arm, but each attack slowly broke said limb more and more. It hadn’t helped that the three humans that were allied with Sparda were now firing at him with the same demonic powered weapons he had gifted his short lived worshippers up top.

“I’m aiming for those wings!” Wilson called out and crouched down, setting her MG 08/15 down on its bipod and firing rapidly from her position. The glowing red bullets shot right through Mundus’ wings and tore more of it away, knocking him out of his flight for a moment and allowed Sparda to drive Force Edge through the throat of the devil king.

Mariko had an uncontrollable grin at the sight. “Superior shot!” She complimented the sailor as she reloaded her weapon.

Mundus touched upon the ‘ground’ they stood over in the void and blasted Sparda away with an array of fireballs. Krieger took this opportunity to ease their burden of the glowing red spikes that always fired from the demon king’s eyes. He straightened himself up and breathed in again, firing accurate shots from his FN FAL rifle into the eyes of his opponent.

The demon emperor let out a groan of pain as his sight was slowly being pelted away from bullets. As he was distracted, Sparda rushed in once more and drove Force Edge into his chest’s weak spot. “If I shall ever be able to see this son of mine you have told me about after this, then I will gladly commend him for beating you down to the point you became a shadow of your former self!”

“ _I will make sure that will never happen!_ ” Mundus retorted back and pulled the demonic broadsword from his chest. He threw it straight at the traitorous demon before him, only for Sparda to flip out of the way and brandish his dual revolvers.

The dark knight fired Musta and Valko rapidly, the bullets eating away at what was left of Mundus’ stone form. “You cowardly hide behind that angelic facade of your’s like a small child” He said through his teeth as his allies stood by his side and joined him at raining fire on the demon king. “We shall tear it away from you and reveal your true, pathetic form!”

Wilson unhooked all the grenades from her belt and chucked them towards the devil king. The explosives ripped apart the remaining leg of Mundus and he was grounded once more, his orange lava like form oozing through the holes of his ill lived stone form. “Just like cracking open an egg, eh?” She joked with a manic grin.

Long orange colored limbs shot from the revealed spaces of his true form, attacking the team violently. Wilson was struck aside, with Mariko running over to her to protect her. Sparda pulled Force Edge from the ground and sliced apart any of the hands that attempted to grab him, while Krieger ducked and dodged as best as he could while still firing at the demon king.

Mundus’s eyes shot a single green beam towards his opponents. The beam managed to strike Krieger on his side, knocking him off his feet. His entire side burned and the aviator pressed his hands against the injury while seething in pain. Sparda spotted the beam edging his direction and he swung the Force Edge at it, reflecting the attack back at Mundus.

His own attack ripped right through the last of his stone facade. The statue armor fell apart and revealed a horrifying mass of limbs and eyeballs in a lava like goop attempting to hold form of its previous angelic figure.

“ _Mundus!_ ” Sparda roared and charged forward, slicing right through any attack the demon king threw at him in quick succession.

“ _You will not kill me, Sparda! You can never kill a God!_ ” Mundus continued his barrage of limbs and fireballs sent towards his long time enemy in an attempt to overwhelm him.

Just as it seemed like it was too much to fight through and reach Mundus, Sparda noticed bullets began whizzing past him from behind him. A grin cracked on his lips and he placed the Force Edge behind him, now knowing his allies still have his back.

“We’ll clear the path!” Mariko called to the dark knight while reloading her submachine gun as quick as she could.

“You got this one, fancy pants!” Wilson cheered him as she fired her machine gun in bursts at the mass of limbs.

Fighting through the pain and his injury, Krieger held himself in a crouched position and provided covering fire for his ally “Let ze devil cry, Sparda!” He shouted out.

Sparda was edging closer and closer to Mundus, the demon king shouting at him words that he promptly ignored. He pulled out the Force Edge and summoned his demonic energy forth. Red and blue crackled all around him and for a brief moment Sparda had shown his true demon form as he sliced the Force Edge right through Mundus. As a massive blast of blue and red shot all throughout the dark void, the devil king let out a rumbling shout of pain and attempted to conjure up the last of his power to create a powerful purple implosion that blinded everyone for a brief moment.

\---

A shining light fell over his ice blue eyes and shot him up awake. Dante raised himself with a yell of surprise, expecting to be inside the castle in Mallet Island. He only found himself in a desolate black void, but he was not alone. Around him were his friends and they were all very much still alive. He felt his gloved hand across his face, he had thought the moments they had experienced being pulled into the void were their last… or was it really?

Deadpool awoke in a shock and a loud screech, rudely waking the others around him. “Oh God…” He whispered in disbelief upon seeing their current situation. “Are we fucking dead!?”

“I...I don’t know.” Lady answered in a breathless tone. She looked down at Trish who had said nothing and only held onto her for comfort. She whispered reassurance to her girlfriend and planted kisses on her forehead to ease her.

Bulleta got herself back on her feet, feeling the aching pain throughout her entire body. She scanned about their location and saw nothing but the endless darkness. A cold chill went through her and she briefly wondered if they really were dead and this is where they were sent.

“We’re dead aren’t we? Can’t believe we’re dead. _Again!_ " Deadpool cried out again and tore off his mask. His hands ran over his bloodied and cut up face, breathing in and out slowly.

A booming noise alerted them all and the ones who weren’t already on their feet sprung up in an instant with their weapons in their hands. “What the hell was that?” Bulleta asked as she held onto her Uzi submachine gun.

Another blinding light briefly flashed them all and massive rip appeared right before their eyes. There were an uncountable amount of lava colored limbs tearing away at the rip to make it even larger. Dante and Trish both went wide eyed as they recognized what was tearing itself through the void.

It was Mundus’ true form and his statue facade had been reduced to nothing. The devil king didn’t even acknowledge the devil hunters as his limbs relentlessly tore at the rip in reality. It seemed like he was attempting to escape from something.

“ _MUNDUS!_ ” Dante angrily shouted to catch the demon emperor’s attention.

“ _Impossible!_ ” Mundus said at the sight of the devil hunters standing alive and well, and very much angry. “ _You all should be rotting corpses in this endless void by now!_ ”

Dante smirked and pulled out Ebony and Ivory. “Looks like that position’s gonna be filled by you very shortly Mundus.” He tossed Ivory towards Wade, who caught it without even looking.

Trish realized what he was doing and she handed Lady and Bulleta her own twin handguns, then brought out Ultraviolet. “This is it, everyone. One final shot.” She said as she aimed the Angel Arm straight at the devil king.

“Yo guys, remember that thing Dante always used to say?” Wade asked his team in excitement.

The half devil cracked a grin at his partner. “Heh, I know what you’re talkin’ about.”

“Ugh, do we _have_ to…?” Lady mildly complained.

“If it gets to us pulling the trigger faster, then fine.” Bulleta said as her finger trigger twitched.

“ _NO!_ ” Mundus roared at the top of his voice in defiance. “ _YOU CANNOT KILL A GOD! YOU CAN NEVER--_ ”

The Devil May Cry team stood tall and aimed their weapons straight at the devil king. “ _JACKPOT!_ ”

A loud bang from the weapons was followed by a crackling burst of bullets that went straight into Mundus. The demonic emperor let out one final cry as the bullets ripped through him and created a massive explosion of energy and fire shooting from every single direction.

The team watched as the countless body parts of their ill fated enemy floated harmlessly in the air before fading into a grey colored sand that blew away into the rest of the dark void that surrounded them.

“You will not be missed.” Trish whispered through her teeth after watching the final piece of her painful past faded away and disappeared forever.

“Hey, guys!” Wade caught everyone’s attention as he pointed at the massive ripple Mundus had left behind. “There are people on the other side of that portal!”

Dante squinted his blue eyes and got a better look for himself. A mop of slicked back white hair instantly caught his attention and he held onto Yamato as he rushed forward to the portal. His friends were quick to follow him up to the point that the half demon ended up stopping right before the portal.

“Don’t.” A man’s voice said from the other side. The man was dressed in a purple coat with white hair and had very similar to facial features to Dante, but only he was much older. “If you pass through this or even touch it, you will end up just like Mundus.”

Dante stared wide eyed at the man before him. He knew exactly who this was. “Father?” He asked in a breathless voice.

“Father?!” They heard another voice call out and a woman with short brown hair dressed in a military uniform came up next to Dante’s father. “So that Mundus fella wasn’t kiddin’ about you having a kid, eh?” She asked and elbowed the white haired man with a chuckle.

“Zat is rather interesting, is it not?” A man’s voice asked with a German accent, something that caught Bulleta’s attention the most. It was a blonde man in an aviator’s uniform, he looked a bit injured but he was still holding himself up. His dark blue eyes squinted at Dante and then back to the older white haired man. “Vait, if he is your son, vhy is it that you gaze at him as if you have never seen him before?”

“Because I haven’t.” The older white haired man answered. “I think I would remember if I had a son.”

Dante felt his shoulders fall and the light in his eyes dim. The other man noticed this and nervously looked around a bit, having realized he shouldn’t have said that.

Lady met eyes with a pale woman dressed in a scientist's uniform with similarly colored hair as her own walk right next to the brunette woman. Something about her seemed eerily familiar to the devil huntress. “This might clear things up. What is the year there?” She asked the Devil May Cry team.

“2016, why?” Bulleta answered for them.

“That is why.” The dark haired woman said, looking over at the older white haired man. “We are in the year 1918 here. Sparda, this boy just might very well be your son in the future.”

“Sparda?” Trish whispered in surprise, her eyes going over Dante who looked even more in shock.

“I see…” Sparda mumbled a bit unsurely. He cautiously stepped forward to get a better look at the young man before him. That was then he realized the features, his own features, were on the boy’s face and how he carried himself reminded him of himself as well. “You really are my son, aren’t you...?” He asked slowly. “I mean, who else would look as handsome as I, if they were not my offspring?”

Dante cracked a grin and scoffed out a laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself, pops. Your looks can’t compare to what both your’s and mom’s genes did for me.”

Sparda guffawed, he almost had to restrain himself from hugging the young man before him. He knew that wit was something only a child of his would have been able to inherit. “Now, son, I haven’t met your mother yet. But I'm sure she is a gorgeous woman and an equally wonderful mother to you."

“She’ll be the most beautiful woman you’ll ever meet.” Trish added, catching the dark knight’s attention for a brief moment.

Sparda smiled at the demoness and nodded. “I do not doubt that a single moment.” He turned over to his allies and stepped back a bit. “Oh yes, here are my allies: Captain Wendy Wilson, Major Irvin Krieger and Dr. Mariko Arisaka.”

Wade and Bulleta’s jaws dropped at the sound of their surnames being spoken. “If that’s Dante’s dad…” The mercenary spoke slowly. “Then this means those other guys are…”

“Your ancestors.” Dante finished for his partner in crime, attempting to restrain his snickering.

“The hell?! Don’t call me an ancestor, boy!” Wilson barked at Dante, only for her to look away and tug at her collar. “It makes me feel old…”

“Oh come on now, _mein kamerad_ , you are not zat old.” Krieger scoffed with a roll of his eyes. He looked towards Bulleta and placed his arms behind his back. “Und _guten tag_ to you, younger Krieger.”

“ _Was geht, der alte?_ ” Bulleta greeted back in her native tongue with a smirk.

“ _Der alte?!_ ” The German aviator echoed in surprise. “Vhat ever happened to respect your elders?”

The devil huntress beamed at her ancestor’s complaints. “Ah relax. I’m just messin’ with you.”

Krieger sighed but couldn't help but smile back at his descendent.

“I cannot believe that happened to your eye!” Mariko gasped as Lady was scrolling through her phone rapidly and at the same time explaining why she was wearing an eyepatch.

“ _Eye_ can’t believe it either. But hey, I _knew_ you looked familiar!” The raven haired woman finally found a picture and she turned her phone over to show the older woman.

At first the Japanese scientist was a bit confused at the piece of technology presented before her, but she leaned a bit closer to see what the younger one was showing her. “That is… _me?_ ” She said as she looked at a sepia colored photo of herself, though looking a bit older.

“Dr. Mariko Arisaka, right?” Lady asked, her smile being from ear to ear. “You’re one of my ancestors too!” She pointed at her face, “Well half ancestor. Y’know, with me being half Japanese and all that.”

“Oh my that is brilliant!” The scientist laughed with her descendant heartily.

Sparda looked upwards at the rip Mundus had created and noticed it was getting smaller. He looked back into his son’s eyes and nodded solemnly. They both knew their time together was going to be cut short. “It looks like this is it, my son.” He said sadly.

He hadn’t seen his father nearly his whole life and now that he had finally gained the chance to again, it was going to be taken away once more. Still, he made the best of the time he had now. “You do me a favor pops...”

Sparda nodded again. “Anything, my boy.”

“Take care of yourself. And your family.”

The dark knight smiled. “And you do the same. With you and with your friends.”

“Oh kid, you don’t even know how many people I had to beat up to get into the Royal Canadian Navy!” Captain Wilson laughed with Wade. “But hell, I am glad to hear in your time women are being treated more equally now, eh?”

“You bet!” Wade shot his ancestor a thumbs up. “I’m gonna write a book on you first thing when I get back, alright?”

“Good on ya, kid.” She turned over to Sparda who whispered something in her ear. “Ah, damn. Guess this is it.”

Both groups took a few steps back from one another as the rip continued to shrink.

“ _Auf wiedersehen!_ ” Krieger waved at the descendants along with the rest of his allies.

“Take care of yourselves!” Lady called to their ancestors. “Because if you don’t, well… we all will kinda stop existing! So make sure that doesn’t happen!”

Dante and Sparda shared one last look with one another. The half demon bidding his father a two fingered salute, and his father nodded curtly in response.

“I will see you soon, my son.” Sparda whispered quietly as the portal finally closed. He gripped the Force Edge and walked behind his allies who were all wondering how they were going to get out of the darkness now. With a simple burst of demonic energy into his blade and a slice at the air, he created a portal back into the battlefields they had just been in. “Let us return to our homes, shall we?”

Wilson beamed at the sight of their freedom and she hung her arm around Mariko’s neck, the scientist blushing in response and squeezed against her in a side hug as well. Sparda lifted Krieger’s arm over his neck and assisted him as they all walked through the portal and back to their world.

“After ze var ends… vould anyone be up for _kaffee?_ ” Krieger asked his fire forged friends and they all shared a laugh together.

\---

The explosion at the top of the castle alerted almost everyone on the island. Worried for the situation of the Devil May Cry team, many people attempted to make their way up to the top as fast as they could, with Lilith taking the lead.

The lavender haired succubus landed as her bat wings folded behind her. She heard the sound of groaning and spotted Taskmaster half buried in rubble. Wanda used her telekinesis to lift the rubble off the mercenary, who was far too injured to get move on his own. Pietro volunteered to take him back to the nearest medical unit and he lifted him up carefully.

As the speedster sped away with the mercenary in tow, Lilith attempted to break open the doors only to find out a demonic spell was holding it tight. In a fit of anger she blasted a Soul Fist straight into the door, destroying it completely along with the demonic seal. Just as she was going to step into the room, someone in a blue coat suddenly appeared from her side and walked past her first.

“Wait, who are you?” Lilith asked the newcomer as she followed him, along with the other heroes trailing behind her. “Where did you…” She trailed off once the man looked back at her with cold ice blue eyes. She knew exactly who this was: Vergil, the Son of Sparda and twin brother of Dante.

Vergil didn’t need to answer the succubus and he continued strutting forward, scanning the room up and down. His eyes landed upon something recognizable and his glare eased into one of slight exhaustion. It was his twin brother’s blade, the Rebellion. It was stabbed into the floor but its owner was nowhere in sight. He walked over the blade and rested his hand on the bottom of its hilt.

“Where are they?” The succubus asked aloud worriedly and hopelessly.

“If there was an explosion then their bodies should’ve been here...” The Scarlet Spider added, but he wished he hadn’t. He wasn’t sure what he could tell Joe and Silvia if he ended up finding Katrina’s dead body.

Wanda closed her eyes and focused her senses. She felt them, her friends. But they were very distant and quickly fading away each second passed. “They are here. But taken away.” She turned her brown eyes to the blue coat wearing half demon. “You feel this too, do you not?”

Once again, he didn’t give a verbal answer. Vergil simply glanced back at the telekinetic girl’s eyes as some sort of slight acknowledgement. His hands gripped around the hilt of Rebellion and he pulled the blade out from the ground. He knew he only had one shot at this, his powers and strength had been severely weakened since his capture. But he knew he was the only one able to bring back his twin brother and his friends.

The sound of a wind gust popped right behind them and a young woman dressed in a punk rock attire appeared from a teleport. Vergil sensed her angelic origins and he braced himself, only for the woman to calm his urges. “I mean you no harm. I just want to help bring back my friends…” Ariel spoke quietly.

Vergil stared into the eyes of the angel and turned away, refocusing himself on the large broadsword. He brought the blade behind him and channeled his powers into a forward slash, ripping apart the fabric of reality itself to create a slice. He placed Rebellion behind him and held against one side of the rip, struggling to keep it open.

Lilith realized what he was doing and she went to the other side of the rip, pulling hard to keep it open. The two demons were slowly but surely extending the portal that led to darkness and Wanda assisted them by summoning her magic to the top and bottom portions of the portal and pulling them apart. The Wasp flew up at the top of the portal and gripped her hands around the edges, pulling hard against it with all her might.

Pietro returned into the room in a sprint and after seeing what was happening, offered his own assistance by taking the side with Lilith and pulling. Kaine removed his Scarlet Spider mask and went over on Vergil’s side and helped him as well. Ariel was left as she peered into the dark void of the portal, searching all over for any sign of her friends. Her eyes lit up brightly when she noticed bursts of red not too far away in the darkness.

\---

They all heard the sound of a familiar voice calling to them. It was Ariel’s voice and just the sound of it instantly brought them all out of their empty, hopeless thoughts. A portal was being opened up and the angel was just on the other side of it, calling out to them over and over.

“Hurry! I do not think they can hold the portal for long!” She said, urging them to hurry.

The Devil May Cry team were sprinting as fast as they possibly could to the shining lights of their only escape. Something caught Dante’s eye that prompted him to rush even further: a blue sleeve from a recognizable coat.

Ariel caught all of her friends that jumped right through the portal and in her arms. “Release it!” She told the others and everyone released their grip on the edges of the portal and it instantly closed shut.

Trish and Lady were hugging Ariel and the Wasp tightly while letting out cheers of pure relief. Wade was on his knees kissing the marble floor over and over, proclaiming how much he had missed having an actual floor. Bulleta nearly collapsed back in Wanda’s arms and she dug her face into the telekinetic girl’s crimson leather jacket. Pietro and Kaine went over to comfort the blonde demon huntress as well, whom was completely happy seeing all of her friends’ faces once more.

As everyone else cheered and hollered at the successful rescue, Dante stood before his twin brother, Vergil.

The red coated half devil breathed in and out hard, unable to quite believe what he was seeing before him. Despite his bad condition, his twin brother was alive. Just as T’Challa had said he would be. His hand held over Yamato and he removed it from his belt, holding right in front of him.

The blue coated half devil pulled Rebellion from behind him and held it towards his twin. Not a single word was spoken. Both of their ice blue eyes were fixed on one another. He didn’t show it, but he was more than glad his twin was alive and well. He always knew he was strong enough to hold his own.

The twins exchanged their blades. Dante returning Rebellion behind him, Vergil hooking Yamato on his belt.

“Vergil…” Dante whispered, stepping forward slightly to his twin. “I… I thought you were dead.”

“It appears death was simply not ready to accept me just yet, Dante.” answered Vergil with a hint of smugness in his tone.

\---

Alexis Wesker, bruised and beaten, was sitting on the series large boulders near the ocean, a trail of their own blood leading to where they were seated. They continuously damned their superhuman enhancements that had saved them from death once more. Their eyes looked down at the thrashing ocean just touching against their boots with hesitation. There was someone standing just behind them for some time now.

T’Challa removed his Black Panther helmet and held it against his side. He didn’t say a single word just yet.

“Everyone I had believed in… trusted in…” Alexis spoke quietly. “They betrayed me. Just like everyone else.” A sob escaped from them but they tried their best to hold it back in. “I truly did believe Mundus was going to help us. He made so many promises and showed us so many things but…”

“Promises are simply that. Promises.” T’Challa said in his baritone voice.

“I know. I should have realized that from the start it’s just…” Alexis rubbed their constant flow of tears away. “I was promised I would be able to see my brother again. And that is all I really wanted. To see him again.”

T’Challa perked up upon hearing this and he set his helmet down. He took a seat next to Alexis Wesker, the same person they had all been working so hard to take down. They didn’t seem to mind that he came in closer to listen.

“He was the only family I had. The only one who understood.” Alexis continued on. “Mundus promised me he was going to bring back Albert to life after he was murdered in the hands of one of your agents… Redfield, I believe his name was.” A scoff escaped their lips and they shook their head. “You must assume I might go after Redfield now for revenge? Well you’re wrong… because at this time, I don’t see the point in anything anymore. I’m just... tired, your highness... “ They turned to the warrior king briefly. “Have you ever felt the same way…?”

“I have.” The King of Wakanda answered solemnly. “But… you should not let exhaustion and the idea of giving up stop you, Alexis Wesker. These hardships we continue to face in life are trials that we must overcome to become stronger. And many are able to overcome them, so you should be able to as well. In my culture, we do not believe in giving up. We fight until our last breath. And even in our last breath, we refuse to accept defeat, so our enemies do not gain the final say in our status.”

“My brother would’ve liked you… you both think alike.” Alexis said even quieter. “Unfortunately, I do not… and right now, I don’t see anything going for me. They won’t forgive me for the things I’ve done. They never will. There is no point now.”

T’Challa took a moment to himself. He saw the same drive in saving family in the eyes of Alexis as he did with Dante. “There always is and will be a point, Alexis Wesker. Because your brother, Albert Wesker…” This caught their attention. “... he is alive.”

“You’re… you’re lying.” Alexis whispered and tore their eyes away from him. “Just like the rest, you’re lying. You just want to use me. You don’t believe in me, you just--”

“The Demon King has clouded your thoughts, your beliefs, your judgement. It has overtaken you like a disease, Alexis Wesker.” The warrior king said as he slowly stood up with his helmet being held to his side again. “But I am speaking with complete truth when I tell you that your brother is alive and well.” He slowly offered his hand to them, his claws retracting back into the glove. “If you are to turn yourself in quietly first, it shall be the first step in a brighter path. Allow me to lead you on your first steps, allow me to show you that your brother is not gone.”

Alexis stared back into the eyes of the warrior king and with a shaking hand, slowly placed it on his gloved ones. They were helped up and extended their hands out to allow T’Challa to place a set of enforced cuffs around their wrists.

“I have told this to someone who similarly had lost their way much like you and I shall tell you as well, Alexis Wesker.” T’Challa spoke as they walked side by side. “The living are not done with you yet.”

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> introducing: vergil, the son of sparda, from the devil may cry series.


	36. Better Red Than Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything finally comes to an end.

The long battle was finally over. As the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier hovered over the island with multiple aircrafts flying down to land around the last remaining remnants of the Mundus Unit. Hundreds of operatives and demons have surrendered themselves and were being escorted into transport craft to be flown away to confinement as the soldiers of S.H.I.E.L.D. and B.S.A.A. patrolled the area in search of their fallen comrades or more of the surrendered enemy.

Captain Zero Masaki was giving out orders, attempting to clean everything they can so everyone could be evacuated and leave the island to be destroyed. Something caught his eye that froze him in place for a moment. The bodies of his comrades, Dempsey and Belinski, being prepared to be taken away via stretchers. The captain removed his helmet and gasmask to get a good look for himself, his deep brown eyes emptied now.

All that was left of Dempsey was a charred, limbless corpse. The only identifying factor was what little remained of his face that hadn’t been covered in ash and blood. Belinski had his throat practically crushed and bloodied from what appeared to be wounds inflicted by large fangs. His body armor had been torn up, his insides practically oozing out from the claw marks in them.

Masaki halted the medics for a moment to retrieve the dog tags of both his friends. He then tapped around Belinski’s chest until he found a small journal. “Your words shall not go in the dark, my friends.” He whispered as Dempsey and Belinski were taken away again. He stared at the two bloodied dog tags in his hands and lowered his head in sorrow.

Alexis Wesker noticed the captain grieving to himself and managed to pull their gaze away. T’Challa was still guiding them, having noticed that all eyes were on the leader of the Mundus Unit, but not a single word was spoken. He felt his prisoner suddenly stop and he looked over their shoulder to see Lilith had stood in the way.

The succubus was glaring scarlet blood daggers straight into the redheaded scientist before her. Wesker didn’t return the gaze, they felt small and they only continued looking down.

“Do you even feel anything for the things you’ve done…?” Lilith whispered to Alexis, her bruised and bloodied hands were balled up tight and barely restraining her anger. “ _You_ did this. You killed _everyone_ here.”

“I … I know I did...” Alexis stuttered in a small voice. “I know you or anyone won’t ever forgive me and I understand that.”

“Go to hell.” The succubus spat, just hearing those words come from Wesker’s mouth infuriated her and she stepped forward, only for C. Viper to appear from the side and pull her aside.

T’Challa didn’t say a single word and simply nodded towards Viper, then continued escorting Alexis towards an aircraft. Lilith soon broke out of the older woman’s hold and shot her a glare.

“Lilith…” C. Viper attempted to start, only for the succubus to tear off her golden B.S.A.A badge from her uniform and crush it in her palm that burned with magic.

The lavender haired demoness threw down her destroyed badge right at the feet of the agent before her. She turned right around and walked away, not allowing anyone to see the tears threatening to burst from her eyes.

A transport aircraft’s hatch opened up before Alexis and T’Challa. Someone under cuffs was being escorted by a group of soldiers as they all stepped out of the craft. Upon seeing who it was, Alexis’ previously emptied eyes suddenly had a flicker of light. “Albert…?”

Albert Wesker stood before his sibling and curtly nodded. “Alex.” His red eyes briefly glowed underneath his dark sunglasses as he glanced around the area. “You’ve made a real mess of things I see.”

T’Challa released his grip on Alexis to allow them to approach their brother. “I… I thought you were dead.” They whispered breathlessly. “I did all of this because I thought you were…”

“Let everything you’ve done go to rest, Alex.” Albert told his sibling. “We’re here now, are we not?”

“W-We are...”

“Then let’s keep it that way.” He turned around and nodded towards the aircraft that he had been riding in. “Come on. The sooner we leave this dump, the sooner we can get you a fresh pair of clothes and some food.”

For the first time in what felt like years, they finally had a genuine smile come across their face. Though the itching guilt that continued to wrack them made it falter and they only nodded. “Of course, brother.” They said and walked side by side with him.

“And wait until you meet my roommate. The man is a disillusioned fat slob who thankfully hides his disgusting mug behind a metal mask.”

T’Challa watched Alexis and Albert be escorted into the aircraft quietly. Dante, Wade, Lady and Trish joined him at his side and they all watched the transport fly off towards the Helicarrier in the sky.

“So what’ll happen now with Alexis?” asked Dante, his gaze went to the side for a moment to see Lilith placing her fallen partner, Chuck, in a body bag. He briefly spotted tears landing on the body bag.

“They shall enter a life long sentence into Mariana’s Hell, alongside their brother. It will take some time to account all of the crimes they are responsible for, but justice shall come soon enough.” T’Challa answered briefly for the half demon. “The same can be said for the demons and humans of the Mundus Unit who have turned themselves in as well.”

“All of our hard work and sacrifices finally paid off then…” Lady said, feeling her fingers over her eyepatch and letting out an empty half hearted chuckle. It felt like they didn’t win at all.

Dante turned around to meet eyes with his twin brother once more, the fact alone Vergil was still alive still startled him.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, brother.” Vergil mildly pointed out.

Dante eased his tightened shoulders and let out a scoff. “I’m just tired.”

“Don’t get enough sleep?”

The red coated half demon shook his head. “Trust me, I get enough of that…” He decided here on to cut the small talk and his eyes narrowed. “Vergil, if you’re thinking of going off again on some insane quest for power just forget it… Mundus is dead.”

T’Challa was quietly watching the exchange. Nevertheless, he was glad the twins were finally reunited.

After hearing the revelation from his twin, Vergil remained silent this time and stared coldly back at him.

Desperation slowly began settling in. He knew he couldn’t lose his brother again. “Come on, Vergil. There’s no point in it anymore. We killed Mundus. Mother and father have been avenged, they can finally rest in peace now.” He stepped forward to twin and rested his hand on his shoulder. “Just… come home.”

The sound of wind gushing caught everyone’s attention. Ariel arrived in a teleport, along with Ant-Man and Anti-Venom in tow.

The shrinking hero tapped the side of his helmet, which folded back and revealed his face as he took in a couple quick breaths. “Anybody have any orange slices...?” He asked sickly as he held onto his stomach.

“Apologies, _Monsieur_ Lang!” The angel quickly apologized as she attempted to ease Ant-Man’s sickened feeling from the teleport.

"Jeez Scott, you can handle shrinking down to the size of a bug but you can't handle teleportation?" The Wasp joked as she too helped her partner regain his bearings.

Dante had noticed Vergil tense up at the appearance of Ariel and he tapped his shoulder. “Easy, bro. She’s a friend.”

“You’re friends with an angel...?” Vergil questioned with a strained expression.

“Long story.” The twin admitted with a shrug.

“ _Bomb’s ready to activate._ ” Anti-Venom informed C. Viper and T’Challa. “ _We’re ready to go._ ”

“Excellent.” The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent said with a nod. “Everyone hop aboard a transport craft, we’re pulling out!” She ordered aloud and began to lead everyone towards a large craft that had landed nearby.

“Heh heh.” Wade giggled as he walked by his friends. “She said--”

“Pulling out?” Lady finished for him with a chuckle.

“No, she said hop! Get your mind outta the gutter Lady!” The mercenary immediately cut her off.

The raven haired woman was cut off guard by that and looked back at Trish with wide eyes. The demoness simply shrugged as she laughed at her girlfriend’s confusion. As everyone else piled in, Lilith was the last one to board, not leaving the side of her fallen partner for a single second. She took one last look at the hellish island before the aircraft’s hatch closed.

As the last of the aircraft flew off from a safe distance of Mallet Island, the explosive deep within the castle activated and in an instant a massive implosion quickly consumed the island. In seconds, there was only the quiet, darkened waters left behind as not even a single piece of land survived the implosion.

Dante, Vergil and Trish watched the scene unfold together, the three of them feeling a painful part of their history finally being released from watching the accursed island disappear forever.

\---

A private funeral took place within a large church. There was only silence between the attendants, even the rain that pelted the roof didn’t register as noise.

Chuck Greene lay peacefully in an open casket, dressed in a sleek suit and his injuries having been cleaned up. It was almost as if he was simply asleep, instead of passed away.

Lilith sat with Chuck’s daughter, Katey, alongside an older man dressed in a dark suit and sunglasses. This was Frank West, one of Chuck Greene’s most trusted friends met during the zombie outbreaks years back. He and Lilith whispered a short conversation with one another before he nodded and made his way towards the podium.

Frank cleared his throat before speaking into the microphone. “Thank you all for attending. I… I never really talked at a funeral before, but I’ll try to get to the point.” He took in a deep breath, readjusting himself now that all eyes were on him. “It’s… a shame, a true shame what happened. We’ve lost someone near and dear to us.” He glanced over at Lilith and Katey, feeling his heart ache a bit. Katey had lost both of her parents now.

“Chuck Greene once told me the world needed me, Frank West.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t believe what he said at the time… I wish he didn’t tell me that. I just wish I got to tell him the truth. The truth being, the world doesn’t need Frank West. The world _needs_ Chuck Greene. The things he’s done for all of us here, the countless people he’s saved… hell, even the goddamn world. He’s a friend, he’s a father… he’s family… he’s a _hero_.”

Lilith hugged Katey even tighter, the girl weeping as quiet as she could in the succubus’ arms. She herself had already given up holding back the tears, they were flowing like rivers from her scarlet colored eyes.

Everyone attending passed by Chuck and whispered their last words to him before leaving.

First was Dante, dropping a single rose into the casket of his friend. “It feels like it was almost yesterday we met you… I wish we could relive those days again. You did good, buddy. Sleep well.”

Vergil passed by, taking a single moment to observe the fallen man he hadn’t even gotten a chance to meet. “I know it is not my place to say anything but… I commend you for guiding my brother and his friends.” He whispered as he laid a rose, then walked off.

Trish and Lady were hand in hand, both taking their final look at their friend. The raven haired woman was trying to be strong as she placed a rose on her friend’s chest with shaky hands. The two walked on.

Wade stood over Chuck and whispered a prayer of safety for him, then dropped a rose down. “Take care.”

Katrina and Patty took their last glance at the captain as they placed their own roses into his casket. “ _Guten nacht._ ” The devil huntress said in a hushed tone before continuing on with the flaxen haired girl.

Ariel closed her eyes and was too, whispering prayers in French for Chuck. She let a rose down carefully on his chest and bowed once more before walking off.

Pietro and Wanda both sang a Sokovian song of grieving quietly, as C. Viper placed their roses neatly across Chuck’s chest. The agent wiped away the tears from beneath her aviators and stood at attention sharply. She saluted her friend once last time before moving on with the twins.

Eddie Brock, out of his Anti-Venom symbiote, rested a single hand on the wooden casket of his friend. After dropping his rose, he lowered his head and walked on forward.

Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne, out of their respective suits, stood quietly over the casket. They allowed their roses to drop into the casket before walking off.

Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine stood before their fallen friend and like C. Viper, saluted one last time. They let their roses into the casket and continued on.

T’Challa knelt before the casket of the fallen captain and prayed in his native language of Wakandan to guide Chuck Greene safely towards sanctuary. He stood up high and produced a rose from his jacket, then laid it carefully in the casket. “You are relieved of duty, Captain Greene. Rest easy, my friend.”

As the warrior king walked off, the last to view Chuck was Lilith, Frank and Katey. The older man was holding his friend’s daughter in his arms so she could see her father one last time. The three of them remained as the rest of the attendees began to quietly leave the church.

\---

Days later, things were slowly returning to how they were before. In the Devil May Cry office, everyone lounged around in unusual silence, something they all have been doing for quite a while since Chuck’s funeral and the defeat of the Mundus Unit. The others noticed Wade walking downstairs with a large backpack on his back.

“Going camping, Wade?” Dante asked his partner in crime with a mild grin.

“Never again, man!” The mercenary chuckled. “Last time we did that, Smokey the Bear strangled me!” He cleared his throat and produced a photo from inside his jacket. “Anyways, check this out.”

Everyone leaned in closer to see what their friend had in his hand. It was a black and white photo, it much resembled an old war photo. “Look familiar?” He asked with a smile that reached ear to ear.

“Hey, those are our ancestors, right?!” Lady immediately shouted upon realizing who the people in the photo were. “The one’s we met!”

In the photo was the Dark Knight Sparda, Captain Wendy Wilson, Major Irvin Krieger, and Dr. Mariko Arisaka. They all looked incredibly happy and cheerful, matching the writing on the corner of the picture that read _‘We miss you all! Hope you find this as soon as you can!’_

“That’s so cute!” Patty squealed, then suddenly her expression shifted into one of suspicion. “Wait a minute…” She turned her eyes towards Dante. “Did you mess with time _again?_ ”

The half demon merely shrugged and grabbed the picture of their ancestors for himself to allow the others a closer look. _Heh. Dad always was one step ahead of us._ He was broken out of thought when he realized Wade was making rounds around the living room, as if checking he had everything ready.

“What’s the rush, Wade?” Trish asked curiously.

“Just makin’ sure I got everything before I leave.” He responded rather nonchalantly. It struck Katrina the hardest as she stood up from her comfortable spot with Patty.

“ _Leave?_ What are you leaving for?” She asked with a nervous smile.

Wade was stopped in place seeing his young friend’s still child-like oceanic eyes. He sighed and stepped up to the blonde. “This demon hunting business is fun and all but…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I need a break. I’m heading over to New York tonight to pick up Vanessa, then we’ll be heading back to Canada.”

Katrina’s brows arched upon hearing this. “We’ll see you again, right...?”

“Of course!” The mercenary laughed and ruffled his friend’s hair. “Who else am I gonna invite to my wedding?”

She attempted a smile and playfully swatted his hand away.

“Actually… now that he says it.” Trish began, catching the other’s attention. “Me and Lady were gonna go back to the East Coast, get our own place again and all that.”

Katrina turned around to look at both of the older women with worried eyes. “You guys are leaving too…?”

“Ah, jeez, Kat… if you say it like that, you make it sound like we’re leaving for good.” Lady said with a nervous grin.

“But…” The blonde began slowly, looking down briefly before glancing around at her friends around her. “We’re supposed to be a _team_ , right...?”

Wade, Lady nor Trish knew what to say at this point. Hearing that completely took them all off guard and they had a shared feeling if the silence continued everyone in the room would be crying. That was, until Dante spoke up.

“Of course we are.” He said in a relaxing and soothing voice to his younger friend, resting a hand on her shoulder. “We always will be a team. We _always_ will be a _family_. Better red than dead, right?”

Katrina nodded quickly and brushed her arm around her eyes to stop the single tears that nearly escaped her eyes. “Better red than dead.” She repeated with a large smile.

“Aw, come on, you big babies! You’re gonna make Uncle Wade cry, gimme a damn hug!” Wade whined and spread his arms out.

“Wait, wait, I’m not really big on hugs--” Dante’s complaints were quickly shut as he was brought into a large group hug as well, with Katrina and Patty in the center of it all.

“We’ll _never_ be split apart. Like Dante said, we’re a _family_.” Patty whispered to Katrina as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Her eyes shifted into red for a brief moment as Filia spoke, “We’re _home_ …”

“A family…” Katrina said, unable to hold back the toothy grin on her face. She couldn’t be anymore happier now that she found a new family to call home.

\---

Katrina had officially put down her gun and quit demon hunting. She now simply lives with Dante and Patty at the Devil May Cry, attending school and aspiring for a much brighter future. The two girls walked together towards their bus stop, their hands slowly grasping into one another's. They smiled at eachother, Katrina's face quickly filling up with a dash of red from the gesture, causing Patty to laugh at her hidden shyness. 

Somewhere in a faraway island, a cruise ship was seen in the distance of the ocean. On the white sands of the beautiful beach, Trish and Lady stood together staring at the gorgeous sunset. The raven haired woman opened up her girlfriend’s hands and slid something around her finger. The demoness felt her breath taken away when she looked down to see a shining engagement ring on her finger. She immediately grabbed Lady in a tight hug and spun her around, both women cheering loudly and happily.

In Canada, Wade and Vanessa sat together on a couch watching non stop episodes of their favorite animated show, Voltron: Defender of the Universe. The newly weds snuggled up together in a large blanket as the episode continued on.

Somewhere in a different city, Vergil pulled on a brand new blue coat over himself as he walked through a newly renovated shop. He pulled his phone from his coat’s pockets and answered, hearing his twin brother on the other line. The twins conversed briefly about Dante sending a special ‘trainer’ down to help him and his friends on their new occupation.

 _"You sure I can’t convince you to stay?”_ asked Dante with a slight chuckle, changing the topic.

“I prefer not having my fridge stuffed to the brim with strawberries, brother.” Vergil said with a slight frown. “No worries, I will drop by here and there to make sure you haven’t gotten yourself killed.”

His twin coughed out a laugh over the phone. _“When the hell did you get so nice?”_

Vergil grinned but didn’t answer the question as he overheard his name being called outside. “It appears I am being summoned. I’ll speak with you soon.” He disconnected the call and stuffed his phone into his coat.

The half demon hooked Yamato on his belt and walked out through the double doors, seeing Taskmaster, Lilith, Pietro and Wanda waiting for him on the sidewalk.

“Take a look at this!” Taskmaster said smugly, nodding upwards.

Vergil stood in between the move stealing mercenary and the lavender haired succubus, looking up. A slight grin appeared on his lips as he viewed the neon blue lit sign that read _‘Devil Never Cry’_ in cursive.

“Interesting.” The half demon simply said.

“ _Interesting?!_ ” Taskmaster echoed in disbelief. “That’s all ya gotta say?! I paid outta my own damn pocket for this, pretty boy!”

“Yes. Then we built it, while you watched.” Pietro pointed out with a shrug, causing Wanda and Lilith to share a laugh.

“Ah, forgedaboutit...” The mercenary mumbled with his arms crossed.

A certain voice greeted the five, catching all of their attention and prompting them to turn around. Ariel Fidal stood with her hands on her hips, a face full of determination and excitement.

“Demon hunters! You’re training begins now!” She said cheerfully and summoned her angelic scythe. “Let’s get to work!”

“Ellie’s our trainer?” Lilith said, slightly surprised.

Pietro scoffed, which earned him a jab from his twin sister. “Give her chance.” Wanda playfully scolded as her hands glew with her red magic.

“Oh great. Now I’m already regretting starting this business with you clowns…” Taskmaster muttered and readied himself a battle stance.

Vergil simply smirked and held his hands over Yamato. “Let the training begin then.”

\---

The Devil May Cry office was nearly empty and practically dead silent. Something Dante was not at all against. It rather reminded him of old times before the entire ‘merging reality’ business struck his life. As he reclined back on his seat, he spotted from the corner of his eye Katrina and Patty walking down the stairs and towards the door. “Going somewhere?” He called to the two.

“Yeah!” Patty said cheerfully, “We’re gonna go to the movies with Silvia, Joe and Kaine!”

“Nice. Bring me back a pizza.”

Katrina rolled her eyes and smirked. “In your dreams.”

“While we’re gone, you better finish the novel I got you!” Patty told the half demon.

“I will, I will.” Dante said as he picked up the romance novel that had been used as a coaster for his drinks. He was surprisingly nearly finished as evidenced by the bookmark’s placement in the book.

The two bid the demon hunter farewell and were out the door. A smile came across his face when he spotted the two girls holding hands before closing the door. The easing quiet returned as Dante relaxed back in his seat and continued where he had left off in his novel. His ice blue eyes briefly look away from the book and to the framed photo of his mother, Eva. Next to her photo was the photo of their ancestors plus his father Sparda Wade had found. Finally, his eyes rested on a newly taken photo of a group shot with himself, Wade, Trish, Lady, Katrina, Patty, and Ariel. A warm smile appeared on his face as he read the words etched onto the frame, _‘Better Red Than Dead.’_

Suddenly, the phone began to ring, bringing him out of his thoughts. His warm smile was replaced with a red hot smirk as he smashed his fist onto the table, shooting the phone off the table and into his hands.

“Devil May Cry.”

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit
> 
> i finally finished this fic. this whole thing literally started in 2012 or so and has gone through many revisions over the course of all these years and it's been finally finished.
> 
> first of all id like to thank everyone who stuck by and read through all of this. 36 mother fucking chapters holy god damn that was way more than originally intended but anyways thank you so so so so much for your support. without you all even reading this i probably wouldnt even have the motivation to finally finish this. thank you so much, i couldnt have done it without you all. thank you. i really cannot thank you all enough im just wow.
> 
> i dont even know what to say now just. wow. this was alot of work and alot of love was put into this. i hope you all feel this connection with these characters like i do. it was a long journey and we were there with them the whole time from start to finish.
> 
> =) see you all around. thanks again.


End file.
